Seeing You for the First Time
by Empathic Soul
Summary: Moving on has always been a difficult task, but when you meet the right person, it becomes easier. This is a story about Rihan and Wakana and how they managed to help each other move on from their respective pasts.
1. Prologue: Cherry Blossoms

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Prologue: Cherry Blossoms**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine.

(In this story, Wakana's last name is a creation of the author. It is not meant to overlap the original plot of Nurarihyon no Mago.)

* * *

_Her brown eyes wide in shock as she watched everything in her sight get swallowed in a sea of flames. Red, hot, fire covering every area within her sight, her small frail body trembled in fear, shivered despite the heat of emanating in their so-called home. The house was burning. Fragments of wood falling from the ceiling, wood planks rising from the floor, ashes swirling about in the entire sea of flames. But it was not because of the fire that she felt scared, no that was not it, it was the body over hers, that didn't move. Limp arms wrapped loosely over her small frame, light auburn hair covering half of her face, and warm red blood, oozing from a fresh sword wound enveloping half of her body. The body clothed in a white summer dress, now covered with red blood._

_A few steps away, is a man standing in front of her. His hands trembling as he stood bravely trying to protect everything in his back. He held a gun pointed in front of him, wobbly but sternly warning the proposed assailant to not get near. His face drenched in sweat, his clothes covered with a mix of water and blood, his skin pale as snow. _

_He suddenly looked back and smiled. He mouthed some words towards the little girl. The girl on the other hand, tried her best to make out the statement. Until shock enveloped her, seeing a tall unidentifiable figure, draw a long blade and struck the man in front of her. Blood gushed out from the freshly cut wound, her eyes widened in fear…_

_I'm next… _

_Was the thought that came to her mind. But her body refused to move. She could not get the body covering her to move away. She could not muster enough strength to move her arms and inch even just a little away from the assailant. The figure moved steadily, slowly towards her, her throat hoarse, her breath ragged, her pupils dilated, there was no better way to describe her feelings except for these words…_

_I'm afraid…_

_I'm going to die…_

_Help me…_

_Then everything faded._

_Everything became dark._

* * *

"Okay everyone, remember to read Chapter 3 of the History of Japan Folklore. We will be having an examination tomorrow." The history professor reminded the class as the bell rang for dismissal.

Students started packing their things. Some obedient enough to place their books inside their bags, others decided to leave them in school and proceed to plan for their group outing either to the arcade or to the karaoke bar. Some students rushed out to the room to proceed to club sessions. But noticeably, a girl seemed to be the center of attention of a few people in class. She was always the bright girl, literally and figuratively. Her smile is very bright that it attracted everyone to her.

"Neh, neh, Wakana-chan, let's go out and eat!" A blonde girl, with the name of Amina pulled her hand as if to drag her out of the room.

"Ehhh, Amina-chan, Wakana-chan promised to teach me today about Algebra!" Kimiko, a short brown haired, athletic looking student pouted towards the other girl, "Right, Waka-chan?"

Wakana Koizumi smiled towards the two girls. She tucked a strand of her hair to her right ear and raised her two hands waving towards the two girls.

"I'm sorry Amina-chan, Kimiko-chan, I have to go home a little early today." Her remark earned subsequent complaints from the two girls. She carried her small bag, slightly giving an apologetic bow and proceeded to get out of the classroom.

Wakana bumped into a couple of classmates who gave her a warm farewell. She smiled back and as she took out her outdoor shoes from her locker. She bid some other classmates a nice goodbye and proceeded on her way.

The truth of the matter was that, she really was in a hurry. But it's not as if she was really going somewhere. The problem is that she was just hurrying out of school because of that thing that has been bothering her the entire day—the shadow that seems to be everywhere she looks. She looked back a little bit and saw that the shadow is still following her.

_Tsk… _she snorted to herself thinking that it has been pretty annoying that "something" has been following her since she left home this morning. _"This is getting annoying. Wonder what this needs…"_

It's nothing new really. That was a prevailing thought in her mind as she walked a little faster, hoping she would lose that shadow. Ever since she was seven years old, she could already see these things. At first, she was afraid. She shared to her friends and to her teachers, and to other people who she thought would understand. But unfortunately, no one did. In fact, she was shunned by those people. She could still remember the names that they used to call her. She was called…

Lunatic.

Crazy.

Attention-grabber.

Loner.

Idiot.

Name it, you have it. She was not that much of an idiot to continue sharing these things. People will only think that she really is loony especially since they cannot see what she does.

That's right. She sees things, from demons, dead people, ghosts, or any other paranormal being. Some of them really scary, some of them pretty harmless, like this shadow following her. It's just following her. Though she couldn't see a face, she could see the figure, it looks human, but a little small. She thought back the day before if she happened to have thrown something to a shrine or stepped on someone else's gravestone, but she couldn't think of anything.

She sighed in resignation seeing that the shadow was nowhere near leaving her. She stopped in her tracks. The shadow stopped as well. She stomped her feet crossing her arms towards the shadow.

"Okay, ENOUGH! What do you want?!" She shouted. She purposefully led the shadow to a vacant field. Checking her line of sight, seeing that no one was around, she took this opportunity to confront the "shadow".

The shadow seemed to have been taken aback, though there was no facial expression. It shook its head and took one step back. Wakana figuring that it was not really such a harmful entity, she sat down in the field fronting the river and tapped the area beside her as if asking the "shadow" to take a seat. Well, the shadow seemed to be very obedient, it really did take a seat.

"Alright. Since we're now in speaking terms, I think it would be best if you show your true self to me." Wakana looked towards the shadow. She saw a couple walk by looking at her oddly. Can't blame them, to normal people, she looks like she was just talking to herself.

The shadow obeyed her. From an empty space, a figure of a small child appeared. It was a ghost. Wakana smiled towards the little boy. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a blue shirt. His hair was light brown and his eyes were as bright as the spring grass.

"Are you lost? Why have you been following me since this morning?" She asked kindly. "I didn't step on your grave or something, did I?"

The ghost shook his head.

"Then what is it? I can't really do anything like exorcize you or something, so…" She stopped as the ghost pointed towards the direction of the river. She looked towards the river's direction and said. "I can't swim little boy…sorry…"

The ghost smiled, "Nee-chan, that's where I died…".

Her eyes widened. "Oh." It was the only thing she could say. She looked around trying to find something that would be relevant to the little boy. "What happened to you?"

The little boy shared his story towards Wakana. It took a while until the story ended. It was almost night time. The little boy's figure shined brighter as the sun set. He became more visible when the moon appeared in the sky. Although he looks translucent, there was something about him that appeared ethereal.

"I see…" Wakana commented after hearing the story. "But, like I said a while ago, I can't really do any kind of exorcism. I can see you, hear you, but that's it…"

"It's okay Nee-chan. All I wanted was someone to listen to my story." The little ghost stood up. "It has been a while since I died. I've been here for a while, but no one took a second look at me. Until you passed by two days ago…"

Wakana tried to remember. Two days ago?

Oh yeah…

She remembered. She passed by this place with Amina and Kumiko after they dropped by their friend in the hospital. They were vising Sousuke, a classmate of theirs who fractured his bone after playing soccer.

"That was when I saw you. You were looking towards me nee-chan. For years, all I wanted was to simply meet someone who would look at me. Look for me. When I saw you, I was happy. I decided to follow you since then." The little ghost looked down, shy with his declaration.

She smiled towards him. One thing about her ability is that she can also detect if an entity is pretty harmful. This one seems to be pretty safe to deal with. She stood up and dusted her skirt and looked at the little boy.

"I'm Wakana Koizumi. You are?"

"My name is Shino…"

"Shino," Wakana knelt in front of the little boy. "I can't really stay with you for a long time, and you can't really follow me either."

The little boy nodded. He knew what she was trying to say.

"All I can do in the next few days would be to visit you. I promise that I will." Wakana took out her pinky finger towards Shino. The little boy's eyes widened in surprise and quickly took out his small pinky finger tying it towards hers. His expectant eyes looked towards her direction…

"Promise? You promise nee-chan that you will visit me?" Shino's eyes brightened with the proposal.

Wakana smiled. "I promise."

* * *

Nura Rihan sat in the Nura household's porch. His relaxed posture was nowhere near the conflict that has been in his heart for a few hundred years already. He looked towards the field of Yamabuki flowers, reminiscing the past. The bright yellow flowers danced with the wind. It looked as graceful as his former wife.

"_Yamabuki Otome…" _

Yamabuki Otome was his former wife. They have parted ways for years now, but the memory is still as clear as crystal. Those were the days wherein he felt that life really had meaning. When she stood beside him as he led his own hundred demon parade, everything he did had meaning. For Rihan, everything made sense.

He has been engrossed in his thoughts not noticing the presence of his father behind him. He was suddenly drawn out of his memories when he felt a strong hit on his head. He looked up and saw his father, the Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan, Nurarihyon.

"Yo, Rihan. It seems that you're having a moment there…" Nurarihyon sat beside his son and gave him a nudge. "Not good son, you shouldn't get too lost in your own thoughts you might not go back."

"Haha, very funny dad." Rihan snorted. "I'm too old for that kind of remark."

Nurarihyon knew why he was so lost in thoughts. Even though it has been years, centuries in fact, since the incident, Rihan has barely moved on from her. When she left, it was as if a very big portion of him was gone. He continued his legacy as the Second heir, but that was it. His smile was no longer as happy as it could be. His eyes were no longer as proud as it used to be. Even the rest of the Hundred Demons felt the lack of desire, and the lonesome aura of the commander.

"Rihan…" Nurarihyon was supposed to begin one of his lectures when Rihan stood up.

"I'll go on a walk, old man." Rihan jumped up and then vanished.

Nurarihyon watched his son vanish in the thin air.

* * *

Wakana took a detour before going home. She wanted to make sure that she was not being followed by any other demons, ghosts, or whatever paranormal figure. It was specifically tiring to watch them. Today, she saw a few other entities aside from the little boy. Crossing the street there was an Ubume. Ubumes are spirits of a woman who died in childbirth. She was sitting in front of the stoplight with a bunch of white robes in her arms. Though empty, it seemed to form a figure of a small baby.

Near the hospital that was on the way home, there was a spirit standing in the front door. It was a Te-no-me, a spirit of a blind man with his eyes in his hands. Truly, she didn't have any desire getting into places prone to spirits specifically at night. But then again, like what she found out long ago, if you can see them, they CAN see you.

She stopped in the park near her home. Sighing as she sat in the swing, she looked at her watch and read 8:00 PM. It was that long since she left school. It meant that it took that long to have that conversation with Shino. She sighed and looked at the direction towards her house. From the park, she can already see it. Lights were turned meaning her aunt and uncle are home.

For as long as she could remember, she has been living with her aunt and uncle. She took out from her bag a small notebook. She opened it and started to write. For her, the only thing she could rely on was this notebook. Her diary, her partner, her savior from being driven to lunacy. Seeing unknown things is not really that easy. There were days wherein she questioned why her. There were days wherein she would just hide in her room afraid to see more things. There were days wherein she felt really lonely because no one understood her situation, until she talked to her aunt. Her aunt told her…

"_Wakana-chan, I know there are things that you can't tell us. Why don't you write it down instead? Too much pent up emotions will be hard to bear…" Her aunt said as she placed her hand on top of her head._

Since then, she started writing all of those experiences in her diary. It helped her, but it didn't really remove every feeling. Though things became more bearable, it was still a gift that she thought was questionable. While writing, she was surprised when a cherry blossom petal dropped in the notebook. She took it into her hands, her dark brown hair as the spring wind danced about.

"Spring…" she murmured. Suddenly, the wind blew harder. Cherry blossom petals swirling around her. She closed her eyes, covering them if ever some dust suddenly goes to her eyes.

Noticing that the wind has already died down a little, she slowly opened her eyes. It was at that moment, where she saw a figure, clad in a dark green kimono, black hair looking sharp but at the same time swirling with the wind, land gracefully as if coming down from the cherry blossom tree. His eyes were focused on the ground as if not noticing her presence in the area.

Surprised with his sudden appearance, she suddenly stood up dropping her notebook in the process. As the notebook fell in the ground, it was at that moment that as if time stood still. Golden eyes met hazel brown…

Rihan saw Wakana, and Wakana saw Rihan for the first time.

* * *

To be continued…

Please read and review.

Thank you very much!


	2. Prologue 2: First Meeting

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Prologue Part 2: First Meeting**

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**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. This part is still in the prologue, since it is still pretty much character introduction. I have a couple of original characters, they will play important roles in the future. Hopefully you like them.

To my first reviewer: Thank you very much. Corrected my mistake the last time. Hopefully, there will be more viewers this time!

* * *

Rihan stared at the falling Cherry Blossom petals. He knew that if he stayed in the Nura household, he'd get an ear full of sermons coming from his dad about being unable to move on, or perhaps looking for another woman who could satisfy his worth as a man. He kept on pondering if there was indeed something wrong with him being unable to move on.

_Can I be blamed for being so loyal?!_

_Can you blame me for loving her to this extent that 300 plus plus years is not enough to move on?!_

_Can you blame me for not being able to sire an heir?!_

He knew that was indeed a concern for the Nura Clan. Being the number one clan in Tokyo, in Kyoto, in perhaps the entire Japan and to add to that, his father being the declared and ever popular Lord of the Pandemonium, is adding to the pressure in the clan which are all specifically directed to him to create the third heir. But was he to blame for all of this?!

Of course not.

He knew that.

It was all because of that fox's curse to the Nura lineage.

Well, if that fox was not killed by his old man he probably wouldn't have existed in the first place. He was not immature enough to actually put the blame on his heroic father's deed, it just happened that way. But, really now, was moving on really that difficult? Was forgetting that much of a tedious task that it affects even the need to eat, the desire to grow old, or the focus towards a greater ambition?

The answer is yes.

It does.

He couldn't forget her.

Kubinashi always told him that he should find someone else. The clan even went to the point of accepting anyone just so that there would be an heir. But he just couldn't. When he steps out of the house, sees the yamabuki flowers in full bloom, he goes back to the past and it all comes back to him. He didn't know if she purposefully placed those in the garden to haunt him, if she did then she played a pretty hell of a great job in doing so, 300-years worth of guilt and frustration, kudos to her.

He sighed to himself, while getting a piece of cherry blossom petal in between his index finger and thumb. He gazed at it then looked up to the moon. The moon is full today, bright and shiny. It feels as if its really so big that you can hold it. He extended his hands as if trying to reach the moon, then dropped them carelessly.

"The moon seems so far away…" Rihan mumbled to himself.

Realizing that he has been there for a while, he decided to take a walk along the streets of Tokyo. He quickly dusted himself and then jumped down the park. He failed to see the figure of a young lady who almost jumped out of her wits seeing him gracefully jump down the cherry blossom tree. The sound of the falling notebook drew him out of his thoughts and made him look at the woman gaping towards him. Taking in a quick look at her, she looked like she was around 15 to 17 years old, she looked even younger but looks can be deceiving. Judging by the way she looked, she probably came from school. She had her school bag with her and is still wearing her school uniform. But setting that all aside, what struck him was that she can see him.

Not wanting to look like an idiot by checking if she's looking at another person, he assumed that she was staring at him. After landing on the ground, he straightened up and looked directly at her. She seemed to be too shocked to actually move. He smirked, closing his right eye and then crossing his arms.

"You know, its bad to stare." Rihan said in a cocky manner towards the shocked woman.

No response.

Rihan raised a sleek brow. He proceeded to take one step forward. He wondered by any chance if she had a heart attack with his sudden appearance. A part of his rational brain said, that it was pretty impossible. That irrational part of his brain mocked him…

_Perhaps she's pretending that she doesn't see me. Like what people are instructed to do when they see a bear, play dead…_

But he decided to go near just in case. He spoke again, "Hey, you okay?"

Reaching out to touch her shoulder, she suddenly hit him with her school bag. Thanks to his reflex, he immediately jumped a few steps away. His hair swinging with against the wind current and on the other hand, her hair slightly covering half of her face with the sheer force of her attack.

"Whoa, easy there." Rihan said, putting his hands up. "Violence is bad woman."

Her eyes widened as he said that. He was surprised when she spoke to him.

"Wha?! You're the one with a sword not me!" Wakana retorted pointing at the sword in his waist.

Rihan totally forgot that he had his sword with him. Well, it was part of him since the beginning so he didn't think much about it. As the Supreme Commander, he cannot be thought of as "defenseless". He glanced at his sword and then to the woman in front of him. He steadied his stance and crossed his arms yet again.

"Okay, point taken. But regardless, I'm not here to hurt anyone." Rihan mouthed. "Trust me."

Wakana raised a skeptical brow. "Trust someone who just jumps from a tree and surprises people out of their wits. Are you even human?!"

"Well, that question has multiple answers, depending on who's asking. Since you're human, I'll say I'm human." Rihan shrugged. Then he stared at her. "But I presume you already know the answer to your own question. "

Wakana almost nodded, but she caught herself. She was practically debating or searching in her internal demon database as to what type of paranormal being this person is. He looks like a human, at least in all aspects except for his golden eyes and anti-gravity hair. His eyes are in its sockets, his hands are complete, you can see his feet so he's not a ghost, and based on some other rulings in her brain, human form demons are the most dangerous of them all.

"…" Wakana refused to answer.

Rihan sighed. "Woman, I will not hurt you. It's against my principles."

"…" Wakana still refused to answer.

Rihan continued. "I assume that you're one of the very few humans who can see us. Therefore, I'll tell you now. Yes, I am a demon, but I'm not the type to feast on human meat and drink human blood. Rest assured, all I was doing in that tree was relaxing."

He noticed that she relaxed a little bit and that made him relax as well. He saw the notebook still lying on the ground therefore he moved to get them. Faster than she could see him, he vanished and then reappeared with the notebook in his hand, his eye quick enough to glance at the name written at the side of the notebook.

"You dropped this…" Rihan extended the notebook towards her. To his surprise, she suddenly grabbed the notebook and ran as fast as she could, leaving him alone in the park.

He stared at her vanishing form. After a few seconds, she took a turn on the other side and then vanished from his line of sight, but not within his radius. He heard, and felt, her enter a gate and then suddenly a loud banging of the door. He assumed that she's probably home already. He smirked his cocky grin and muttered to himself.

"Wakana Koizumi."

* * *

Wakana raced to her home. Slamming the door behind her, surprising the rest of the people in the house along with it, she ran as fast as she could to escape from the demon she left in the park. To be honest, its not as if she was surprised, she was just honestly feeling a little uncomfortable specifically with the sword.

And to add to that, the knowledge base in her head stating that human form demons are more dangerous than those that look unnatural. This is something that has always made her uncomfortable for the longest time. Even though she has seen a lot for the past years, she was never used to seeing human form demons. She didn't know why but every time she does, her stomach turns, her heart beats so fast, her mind goes blank, and all she can do is run as fast as she could.

She could hear the worried calls from her aunt and uncle outside her door, but she refused to answer. She could hear them repetitively calling her name, but as of the moment, she could still feel her body trembling. She couldn't speak, so she just embraced herself tight in a corner.

_Wakana…_

_Inhale… _

_Exhale…_

_Inhale…_

_Exhale…_

She instructed herself, while berating herself for being so cowardly. That demon didn't look like someone who would be killing her anytime soon. She heard her door being forcibly opened by what you may call as "extra keys". A few moments after, she could see the figures of her very worried aunt and uncle.

"Wakana-chan?" Her aunt looked around the room until she saw her crunched up in a corner. The couple hurried towards her side. "Wakana-chan, are you okay? What happened?"

"Dear…" Her uncle placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and noticed that she was trembling. "You're trembling, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Did you see another scary thing?" Her aunt asked her.

Her aunt is the only one who believes that she sees things. She was the one who told her to write in a diary so that she could express her feelings. She knew that her aunt didn't fully believe her but at least she listens when she wants to share something. Her uncle on the other hand, did not say anything about it. Its not as if he laughs at her ideas, he just doesn't say anything at all.

She simply nodded to the question. She didn't want to inconvenience the couple by going into detail. She was surprised when her uncle suddenly embraced her.

"It's okay, dear." Her uncle caressed her head calming her down. "Don't worry, you're safe here."

"That's right honey. Here in this house, no one will laud you with these things. We believe you and most of all we will protect you." Her aunt murmured to her ear comforting her with her words.

Wakana simply nodded in acknowledgement. The couple stayed with her for a few minutes. Tired because of the events for the entire day, she fell asleep in the arms of her uncle. After seeing that she was sound asleep, they carried her to her bed, placing her underneath her comforter and making sure that she was relaxed. Her aunt turned off the lights but left the bed lights on just in case. She opened a small light placed on the side bed and kissed her forehead. The couple quietly left the room and closed the door.

"You don't think she saw that do you, Minamoto?" Karin, her aunt spoke as she glanced towards Wakana once more.

"I hope not." Minamoto muttered towards Karin, his eyes narrowing in slits. "We should tighten security and ensure all safety notions are up and running."

"Right. We cannot have any dangers near, Wakana-sama." Karin agreed rushing down the room raising up various charms and armaments inside the house. The charms have writings that create barriers against demons.

"It cannot happen again. Wakana-sama inherits a certain lineage. Demons desire these kinds. We have to make sure that we protect her at all cost." Karin reiterated.

"Yes. This is our duty." Minamoto agreed.

* * *

Rihan stepped back in the Nura household only to be met by a very frustrated Kubinashi with a smiling Kejoro beside him. Kubinashi's eyes narrowed upon seeing the Second heir arrive. Rihan placed his hand behind his head in an attempt to lighten up the mood when Kubinashi started with a barrage of questions.

"Where have you been?! Don't you know that as the Supreme Commander you cannot just leave especially without any attendants? What if you get hurt? What if you get attacked? What if you suddenly just get kidnapped or something of the sort? Do you not understand that people worry, you ungrateful idiot?!" Kubinashi berated him while preventing himself from strangling the taller guy.

"Calm down, Kubinashi, what's important is that the master is home." Kejoro remarked while placing a hand on the other's shoulder. "Young master, please refrain from leaving without notice."

"Well I did tell, the old man. " Rihan countered only to receive a glare back from Kejoro. "Okay, I get it. Sorry sorry…."

"See Kubinashi, young master is sorry. Relax." Kejoro said. "Well, young master, please get in. We don't want you getting any colds."

Rihan noting the slight change in the atmosphere quickly got in the house and went directly to the porch. He saw his dad sipping some sake, still at the same spot where he left him. He sat beside him looking at the slightly drunk Nurarihyon.

"You're still here?" Rihan commented, taking the glance at the bottles of sake, making a mental count of 30 empty sake bottles, "That's a lot of booze, for an old guy like you."

"Hmmm?" The Supreme Commander raised a brow towards his son. "Depends on who's drinking, maybe for you this is too much."

Rihan snorted. "You're drunk, sleep already, old man."

Rihan stood up getting ready to go to his room and perhaps lie down in his bed, it seems that the Nura Clan won't be going out tonight.

Nurarihyon smirked. "Rihan, you smell like Cherry Blossoms."

Rihan stopped in his tracks. Before he could turn around, the supreme commander laughed. He turned swiftly only to see empty bottles of sake and no Nurarihyon in sight. He couldn't even sense his father's presence. He shrugged and then proceeded to his room.

His father reappeared soon after in a Cherry Blossom Tree in their yard. He laughed to himself as he continued his thought…

"You smell like Cherry Blossoms mixed with a woman's scent." The Supreme Commander's eyes narrowed in slits looking at the disappearing shadow of his son.

* * *

To be Continued…

Please read and review. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 1: You and I

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 1A: You and I**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Warning: Violence, a bit, for this chapter.

Please read and review. Thank you!

* * *

Wakana sat on the park yet again, but this time around carefully looking around to make sure that there's no one or nothing in the area. She has been very careful in threading around the area particularly at night. She just couldn't go home any earlier because every time she makes a stop at Shino's area, the little boy goes crazy with his long stories and various new antics. Not to be mean, but she knew she made a promise, and she's not one to break them.

Specifically today, she over stayed again. Looking at her watch, it's 8:00 PM again. She sighed, somehow, she's starting to berate herself by accepting that promise. But well, it's a little help to Shino, maybe soon, he'll cross over or something, like that movie Casper. She took out her diary and started writing her entry. What will she write today?

She was so engrossed into thinking and placing her thoughts into the diary not noticing Rihan sitting on the slide near the swing. To be honest, he got a little curious with her, so he often drops by at that same time for the past few days, since their first meeting. It made him even more amused with the various reactions she had, even though he perfectly hid his presence. He began to remember the past three days…

Day 1:

He hid his presence behind the Cherry Blossom Tree. Of course, being a Nurarihyon, hiding is such a simple thing. He saw her tiptoeing from the street to the Cherry Blossom Tree with her bag in her hand. She was staring at the branch where he came from the other day. When she saw that no one was there, she breathed out a sigh of relief. She sat and then wrote in her diary.

Day 2:

She stood there, 10 to 20 meters away staring again at the branch where he sat before. She had a pair of binoculars with her. When she saw no one was there she ran to the swing and began to write again, little did she know that he was just there.

Day 3:

She looked a little tired, noting also that she came a little later than usual. She seemed a little exhausted, and found out that they had gym class today. How did he find out, overhearing her talk to herself, of course. She was muttering some curse words along the way about how evil their teachers can get by making them run 10 miles for the day. He snickered since he already knew what would happen next, of course, she's going to write in her diary.

Today is Day 4. She doesn't seem particularly aware of her surroundings so he decided to make himself less invisible to the human eye today. She quietly wrote something on her beloved diary and he quietly observed her. With lack of better things to do for the past few days, he has been very preoccupied with his new hobby, observation. Specifically, Wakana Koizumi Observation…

Wakana Koizumi was particularly simple. She has shoulder length brown hair, her eyes are light brown, her frame is particularly small, her lips normal, her nose normal, her height average, in general, a girl who is pretty average. Nothing about her is exceptional, except perhaps, that interesting ability, the ability to see paranormal entities and her ability to have a lot of unpredictable expressions.

Overall

Normal Human

But, really interesting and a bit funny

Isn't it funny to actually bring binoculars?!

He couldn't help but snicker.

He continued to see her from afar. He was jolted out of his thoughts when he saw two figures running towards the object of his observation. He quickly vanished within the area. Wakana looked up seeing her aunt and uncle running towards her direction.

"Aunt Karin? Uncle Minamoto?" She stood up, placing her diary inside her bag. "What's wrong?"

"There you are. It was getting a little late so we got a little worried. Let's go home dear." Karin motioned for her to follow.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice." Wakana got her things and proceeded to follow her aunt.

"It's okay my dear, let's go home." Aunt Karin motioned. Wakana didn't fail to notice that her uncle looked a little nervous and often looks around.

"Uncle Minamoto? Is something wrong?" Wakana asked. "You look a little distressed."

"Huh, oh no, not really. Just looking around, its been a while since I was out at night." Uncle Minamoto mentioned. "Let's go home. We prepared dinner."

"Great, I'm a little hungry." Wakana smiled widely.

Her aunt guided her until they reached the door. Uncle Minamoto vigilantly scanned the perimeter and then closed the door. He made a sign that was very similar to an onmyoji's signal and then closed the front door.

* * *

Rihan, observed from afar. He noticed how worried the older couple seemed. It also appeared like they were checking out every nook of the street making sure that the area is safe. It didn't look like normal overprotectiveness to him. It looked like they were bodyguards desperately trying to protect their boss from a possible sniper or attack. This behavior is peculiar. He couldn't put it in his brain why family could behave like that, unless…

He never doubted his instincts. Ever since, he became the Nura Clan's head, his instincts has always guided him towards the right path. Therefore in this case, he decided to follow them, discretely of course.

* * *

"Aunt Karin, you and uncle seem very nervous. Is there something wrong? Really, please tell me. I'm getting a little nervous too…" Wakana said while eating her bowl of rice and looking at the couple sitting across her.

"Oh, no, not really. It's just perhaps it's the time of the month. You know, girl thing…" Aunt Karin replied while smiling sheepishly. "Sorry for getting on your nerves my dear."

Wakana shook her head while smiling. Although she looked like she bought the excuse, deep down, she was skeptical. She knew that they were hiding something. They looked like they were doing their usual thing but their eyes were scanning the area. She didn't feel very secure at the moment, it felt as if there was an impending doom.

"Wakana-chan, why don't you go up and take a shower first?" Aunt Karin motioned. "We'll take care of the dishes."

"Um…okay…" Wakana nodded. "Good night Aunt Karin, Uncle Minamoto."

She did not remove her gaze from the couple as the smiled warmly towards her. They said their respective good nights without removing their gaze towards her. She felt very awkward. Nothing seemed very comfortable in this house. It felt like a big cage as of the moment, with two very peculiar watch dogs. She felt like the bird with a big cat waiting to pounce on her. And for the record, she hated that feeling.

_What's going on?_

_What had them looking like that?_

_Why are they acting so peculiar?_

_I hate this feeling…_

Suddenly, the lights turned off. She stood up from her bed. Her eyes quickly scanning for a source of light. There was only one, the clear window with the moon shining brightly. She quickly sat underneath her study table while wrapping herself with a blanket. She gazed at the door patting herself in the back since she made sure to lock it first. The next succeeding events were something she could never imagine.

The entire house shook as if there was an earthquake. From the outside, Wakana could make out sounds of broken glass, mirrors, loud thuds in the walls, and now the smell of burning wood. She could hear screams and shouts from the ground floor. She could barely move a muscle but she knew she had to. She stood up, grabbing her tennis racket. She was about to open the door when to her surprise the body of her Uncle Minamoto came flying across.

His clothes were tattered. His lip was broken and there was blood in his arm. From where she was at, there was a wound caused by a sword. It was bleeding profusely.

"Uncle Minamoto!" She was about to rush when her uncle stopped her.

"Stay there!"

She came into a halt and then was surprised when another body came flying towards her uncle. This time around it was her Aunt Karin. She looked like she was in so much pain. Her arm was twisted so badly as if it was forcibly turned around. She ran towards them holding onto her aunt.

"Aunt Karin….What…."

Her question was stopped when she felt it.

A despicable feeling of doom

There was that unknown smell of fear inside the entire house. Loud footsteps echoed along the hallway, slowly and steadily going up from the stairway. She could hear soft hissing and some growling. To her surprise, her uncle threw her towards the side directly underneath her bed.

"Stay there, don't move." Uncle Minamoto motioned. He struggled to get up as if trying to defend her. His body all bruised up but he still tried his best to fight the pain.

Aunt Karin mustered enough strength to go towards her. She placed a necklace on Wakana and smiled. "Wakana-sama, sorry for lying all these years. Please forgive us for doing this. This is nothing but your parents' wishes…"

Wakana was left speechless. Her aunt was barely able to speak. She quietly obeyed listening to every word said to her. "Wakana-chan," Aunt Karin continued, "from this day forth, please always smile. Forget about the days of pain, forget these days of anguish, forget everything…soon someone will come and will make you happy…"

Wakana nodded blindly, staring at her barely alive aunt. From her peripheral vision, she saw what she never thought she would see inside the house. There were three big demons, one is a onibaba, long dark hair with red glistening eyes. She was wearing an old kimono, her make-up resembles that of a geisha. The second one is a Nuribotoke. It's a corpse like being with dangling eyeballs. His stench spread in the entire house. The place smells like death. The third one was an old man who looks like a bird. He had black wings, which made him resemble a tengu.

Wakana's eyes widened. Her eyes could not believe it.

These are demons. These are evil demons.

What are they doing in the house?!

Wakana was thrown to the ground by her aunt and there she saw the onset of a battle that she never realized would happen. Her uncle started chanting some unknown incantations and a so-called shikigami appeared in front of them. A shining armor rushed towards the invading demons. However, as soon as it appeared, it vanished, dissipating in the air.

"Hahahaha, puny little shikigami! Did you ever think that this is all we can do?! You're underestimating us priest." The onibaba teased. "Oi, Nuribotoke, kill that guy."

The Nuribotoke rushed towards Minamoto driving him towards the floor. The tiles were raised with the impact of the crash. The demon bit the human prey under him from his arms. A scream of pain echoed inside the room. Wakana's eyes widened, her body shivered at the sheer pain that reverberated inside the room.

Wakana heard a soft warning from her aunt. Karin said,

_Close your eyes. _

_Never open them._

Wakana nodded. She knew that at this point, at the sound of her aunt's voice, she was dead serious. She decided to obey instead of question. There are things in life that she knew she could not counter. She could feel her aunt smile at her willingness to agree. Karin rushed to the side of her partner. Her arm was pulled back by the Onibaba.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" The onibaba remarked. "You should never turn your back towards the enemy."

Karin glared at the onibaba. She raised up the other working arm only to have it twisted yet again. She bit her lip to not shout, to bravely take in the pain. Karin glared back towards the onibaba, "You will never get what you want."

"Well, we will get it once we kill you." The onibaba retorted.

The next sound was something that Wakana feared to hear. Empty loud thuds paired with crunching sounds, it bought tears to her eyes. She covered her ears, afraid to hear more, her eyes shut tight. She could vaguely hear sounds of mocking laughter, hysteria, insanity inside the room. Until, there was silence.

For a moment, there was nothing but sheer silence.

She thought that perhaps she had gone deaf.

She thought that perhaps, she has gone to the after life, dead before she knew it.

With her eyes still closed, she shivered underneath her bed, where she was left by her aunt before she charged towards the opponents. She abided by the instructions given by her aunt, but at the same time she could not let go of the nagging feeling inside her.

What happened to Aunt Karin?

What happened to Uncle Minamoto?

What happened?

She slowly opened one eye, and then another. She removed her hands from her ears while slowly raising her body up from lying down on the floor. She could barely make out anything in the dark. She leaned on the wall trying to find support as she stood up. Again, the only source of light is the moon. She slowly walked out of the bedside, trying to make anything of the room until suddenly she seemed to have stepped on something.

She slowly looked down and saw a hand, lying there, separate from its body. Her eyes widened, her mouth dry from fear, her body trembling, she took a step back and then was surprised when a hand covered her eyes. At first startled, she struggled, paused a bit, and then continued to struggle from her unknown enemy.

But the one holding her was really strong. She could barely make any impact with all the struggling that she is doing. She continued to writhe under the grip of the person holding her but it was to no avail. Tears started to well under her eyes until she felt a warm breath near her ear.

There was a soft whisper at first…

She could barely make out any of the statements. She continued to struggle, this time with a lot more force. Another hand caught her. It felt as if an arm wrapped around her. The enemy felt so big, so frightful, so intimidating, until she heard him whisper yet again.

"Sorry…"

After that, she was knocked out cold. She just hoped that when she wakes up, she's still alive.

* * *

Rihan stared at the girl that he held in his arms. Despite his efforts of calming her down, she still continued to fight. He couldn't understand the subsequent events at first. In fact, he could barely make out a reason demons would attack such a simple house.

When he arrived, the demons were on their way towards her. Without warning, he drew Nenekirimaru and struck the demons. In one fatal sweep, all those demons were taken down. However, he knew that he was a little too late for the two humans lying on the ground. The woman's hand was brutally torn off by the onibaba. He had been in several battles before but this was a first for him, to actually see this happen in a house of a simple, normal human.

The man on the other hand was bitten in several places. The nuribotoke took care of that corpse really well. It was the end for these two humans. Looking around as well, it seemed that they fought bravely, with the paper scattered in the room, they looked like they had experience in divination, though not that strong, but there is an effort done.

The tengu, on the other hand is also a goner. Though he did not do anything, he seemed like the overall leader of the invaders in the household. Then his attention was caught by the slight gasps of breath on the side of the bed. He stood there from a far, making his presence as invisible as possible. There he saw her.

Her breath was ragged, her eyes were jaded, her hands supporting her back as she leant on the wall barely able to stand. She wavered as she tried to walk while covering her mouth with one hand. She stepped forward and tripped on the hand, she looked down and saw it.

At that moment, Rihan decided to cover her eyes. She struggled in his arms, continued to resist, until he was left with no choice. He apologized first, then knocked her out. He then decided to bring her to the Nura household.

And here they were, on their way back to the Nura household. Wakana is unconscious in his arms. Her frail body looked so helpless that he could not help but tighten his grip on her unconscious being. He softly landed in front of the Nura household, again with a worried Kubinashi waiting in the front door.

Rihan walked directly towards the two. Kubinashi was seething mad, a replay of the earlier encounter. However, this time around, they were distracted by the package that the Second heir has in his arms. They rushed towards his side and gazed at the human.

"Young master, this is a…" Kejoro placed a hand over her mouth, as if shocked beyond belief.

"A human?!" Kubinashi continued shocked, which earned him a smack on the head from Kejoro.

"No you idiot, it's a woman!" Kejoro blushed, "Young master has bought a woman!"

Kejoro danced in the front door, happy and giddy almost to the point of launching a full-fledged teasing festival towards the Second heir and the woman in his arms.

"And a human is different from a woman?!" Kubinashi shook his head. "Geez…"

"My goodness, the master has bought home a woman! An unconscious woman?! Tomorrow will be a great day!" Kejoro remarked and then happily made a dance around Rihan.

Rihan snorted and then shook his head. "Before you begin your party and barrage of teases Kejoro, help this woman first. As you can see, she's out cold."

"Maybe she's out cold because she was knocked out because of you." Kejoro teased, thinking along the lines of being head over heels in love with their master.

Rihan's brow twitched. "How did you know?"

"My, my, so she really fainted because of you?! Oh my…" Kejoro twisted and turned like a crazy fan girl.

"I don't think you're on the same page." Kubinashi muttered. "Kejoro, I think he meant he knocked her out, LITERALLY."

"Eh?!" Kejoro looked shocked. "Young master…a girl…"

"I had no choice!" Rihan sounded defensive.

Rihan walked past the shocked demons and then headed towards the guest room. Luckily most of the demons at home were busy enjoying themselves in the main hall to notice his arrival. He swiftly went past all of them and headed towards the guest room. The two other demons followed him swiftly.

"Seriously, young master, who is she?" Kubinashi asked, preparing the futon and the blankets.

"Her name is Wakana Koizumi." Rihan answered, "Let's just say, I happened to have saved her from her haunted home."

"Haunted home? What is she? She doesn't smell like a demon nor like an undead to me." Kejoro remarked. "Although, there is a very strong tangy smell of blood around her, and somewhat, the smell of the dead."

"It's a long story. Please take care of her Kejoro." Rihan glanced before going out of the room. "Kubinashi."

Kubinashi followed suit while taking in the look of the woman lying down on the futon. Kejoro smiled, nodding to accept the responsibility. She stared at the unconscious woman and smiled.

"Wakana-sama, please take care of our young master." She smiled. "One thing I'm good at is seeing future couples."

Humming to herself, she proceeded to take care of the unconscious Wakana.

"Rihan-sama." Kubinashi stood in front of the Second heir with his arms crossed. "What happened?"

Rihan sighed. He didn't know where to start, from him "observing her" or from the part of the attack. Well, this is Kubinashi that we're talking about, so he's bound to happen. He looked up and started his story. For the record, he decided to start at the fact that he was discovered from his hiding spot by this "normal human girl"

"Rihan-sama, so you mean to tell me that she has the ability to see demons?" Kubinashi remarked.

"Yeah, she can. I've been observing her. In fact, I think she can see ghosts too. So I'm guessing most paranormal things she can see." Rihan pointed randomly with his head leaning on one arm.

"That is a pretty rare ability. This kind of visions can be triggered only by previous encounters with demons or ghosts." Kubinashi added.

Rihan simply nodded.

Kubinashi played with his string as he thought of the actions of his commander. It was pretty interesting how he went out for the past few days only to see this mere human. Although, it was a very tedious job to worry about his safety, it was also something that made him sense a glimmer of hope. Even though he did not know of his antics, he also wished that Rihan met a girl.

Well, true enough he did.

Only though, she doesn't look really friendly towards him, based on his story.

The door slid open and there appeared Kejoro with the clothes that Wakana wore when they arrived in the house. She looked towards the other two and then smiled.

"I'll be washing these first. It's not very hygienic to ask her to wear these dirty ragged clothes tomorrow when she goes back home."

"I don't think she's going home anytime soon." Rihan muttered.

"Oh." Kejoro blushed. "My, that's a bold declaration you have there, young master. Ohohohoho~"

Rihan's amber eyes widened ever so slightly at the snide remark. Kubinashi simply shook his head and looked at his liege.

"Honestly, that wasn't something I expected to come out from you Rihan-sama." Kubinashi sighed. "But, we can expect Kejoro to come out with various thoughts after that."

Rihan stood up and headed towards the guest room. Kubinashi observed his young master from afar. Rihan slid the door open and proceeded to go inside. He left the door open to gaze at the sleeping form of Wakana. She seemed very helpless. Though she looked really normal, at this moment, just this specific moment, something about her made her look a little more special. Rihan thought that it probably was the kimono that Kejoro made her wear that made her look more feminine. But then again, that was the superficial look. Right now, there was something very vulnerable about her. Unbeknownst him, he was feeling very protective of her already.

He took a place beside her futon and then stared at her for a while. He was contemplating on the reasons why that took place in her home. No one else knew of the occurrence except for him. He was the one who slain those filthy demons who wanted nothing but to destroy a human home. And he also was the one who failed to rescue her aunt and uncle…

_If only I was a little early…_

He was surprised when he suddenly her tiny hand grasp his hand in a soft squeeze. He looked at her hand, it was small compared to his. Though, small, it had a firm hold in his hand. He looked up to her and saw her eyes. It was lining with unshed tears. She bit her lip a little and then a tear fell down.

"_Aunt Karin…"_

"_Uncle Minamoto…"_

Tears continued to fall from her eyes. Her hand firmly grasping his. Somehow someway, a part of his heart was writhing in pain as he observed her. He could not even notice the presence of his old man observing him beside Kubinashi and Kejoro. He merely stared at the woman who was in so much pain, so much turbulence, and so much confusion.

He unconsciously held her hand between his palm as if to reassure her that he's there. He moved his hand to wipe her tears.

No words were needed.

Just the actions.

It was enough.

At least, in that moment.

Nurarihyon stepped out tapping Kejoro and Kubinashi to go with him. The two demons followed the Supreme Commander leaving Rihan and Wakana alone in the room.

* * *

To be Continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you!


	4. Chapter 1B: Rihan and Wakana

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 1B: Rihan and Wakana**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review. Thank you!

* * *

"Hurry, look there's a human in the guest room!"

_What the?...Who's voice was that? Wakana thought to herself, squinting her eyes a little bit from the sunlight rays._

"Where? Where?!"

_Another one? This time there was a different voice._

"She looks so normal."

_Who looks normal?! Wakana thought._

"Normal defines a human idiot!"

_Oh, they were referring to me… Wakana continued._

"But Yohime-sama doesn't look normal…"

_Who is Yohime?! Wakana retorted, "Even her name sounds princess-y"_

"Like duh!? The Supreme Commander isn't normal either?!"

_Supreme Commander?! Time-warp much!_

"Oh, you're dead!"

Wakana moved ever so slightly at the voices that she could barely make out. There was a soft sounds of that resembled small footsteps. She thought that it probably belonged to a little kid, but there were too many sounds, she figured that it was probably impossible to have that many kids in the area. The voices were a tad bit too squeaky also to resemble that of a kid.

"See, see! Doesn't she look really normal…" a squeaky sounding tone remarked, the voice sounded so near her face that it felt like she was being observed in a very close position.

"Hihihihi…" a soft laughing sound appeared, sounding like it was teasing her.

Very, very much disturbed with the voices, she immediately jolted up from her position surprising the supposedly "kids" in the area. She immediately looked to her side to see where the annoying voices came from, and much to her surprise, no child was in the area.

Her mouth was left open wide in shock as she saw several unexpected figures in front of her. There was this white "thing", looking relatively similar to a slug that's standing up. Its mouth is curled into a shape of a number three. It's eyes were presumably like dots in a paper, but just observing that, it's probably looking at her.

Beside that "thing" was another unknown creature. This one really looked like a demon. Its skin is red, eyes bulging, teeth or rather fangs exposed, and a balding top head. She can pretty much assume that this one belonged to an "oni-class" of demons, though she doesn't really have any particular name to call it.

Another one is a demon with one eye. Similar to the mythological character Cyclops, it appeared like it was staring, excuse the pun, at her. It's wearing a traditional Japanese clothing with the straw hat. The annoying thing about this creature is that it left its tongue hanging permanently in its face.

And of course lastly, it's this weird figure of natto with feet. Overall, this is a pretty normal good morning for Wakana.

NOT!

"The HUMAN IS AWAKE!" The oni shouted as if calling for help. Wakana's eyes widened a little bit but made sure that she didn't really expose her surprise that much. But well, she honestly can't hide her annoyance.

"I have a name." She snorted. Her eyes following the shouting oni as it raced around the room pretending to be in a panic attack.

"AAAAHHH, the human speaks!" The Cyclops followed suit in screams, running around the room in a frantic frenzy.

"Look out big eye, you might hit the wall." She muttered under her breath sarcastically giving a warning towards the running demon.

As if on cue, the demon hit the wall. Wakana looked directly at the four creatures in front of her. A "normal" human, specifically woman, would have screamed her fear out of her lungs after seeing these little thugs. But since, she's anything but normal, and maybe, a little less feminine than the usual stereotype, she simply stared at them. Surprising herself to say the least, she was acting pretty brave. But, nonetheless, the three creatures with the exception of the Cyclops lying down on the ground, the three stared at her bravely.

The natto-look alike took a step to the front, showing his bravery to the rest of his comrades. The stare game started between the two of them.

"Grrrr….." Natto growled as if trying to intimidate Wakana.

Wakana drew a little closer towards the demon. And muttered under her breath…

"You…" She whispered. The natto drew a little closer as if curious as to what she was to say.

_Human, what will you say?_

Natto looked like he was ready to challenge, until she spoke.

"You stink."

* * *

Nurarihyon calmly picked up his bowl of rice from the table placed in front of him. He was alone eating his breakfast at the common room. He could actually sense that everyone in the house was scrambling in curiosity regarding their human guest, well, everyone except Gyuki who stood near the door.

He picked up a piece of his grilled fish and then ate it. He opened one eye towards Gyuki who seemed to be oblivious to his stare.

"Gyuki." The demon looked back at the Supreme Commander upon hearing his name. "What do you think?"

Gyuki crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on a sturdier post. "I think it's a little too early to tell."

He looked at the area where screams were coming from. From what he could fathom, the screams were not coming from the girl, it was coming from those small demons. He could rather imagine that they were trying to intimidate the human guest.

He heard the Supreme Commander snicker. Looking back at the commander with his one visible eye, he saw their clan leader smile.

"Wanna bet, Gyuki? Thirty bottles of Sake."

Gyuki smirked.

"How about fifty?"

Nurarihyon grinned widely.

"You're on."

* * *

Kejoro stood there in front of the door. She was debating inside if she should open the door or just stand there and wait for the ruckus to be over. From what she could make of the story, it seems that natto was just totally insulted. The defensive natto smell was seeping out of the closed room.

"_She probably told him, he stinks." Kejoro thought._

She shook her and took in tons of air.

_Here goes…_

Kejoro opened the door and the odor of long withstanding natto came gushing like a tornado. She shook her head wildly trying to rid of the scent, which surely will stick to her clothes after this. She muttered to herself about how bad this smells but didn't even try to say it out loud. She looked around and saw her objective sitting in the corner holding to her face the blanket that covered her a while ago.

"I MAY STINK BUT I'M STILL A DEMON!" Natto kept on repeating acting like a baby on a wild tantrum. He kept on repeating it over and over again, while jumping up and down spilling bits and pieces of natto from its head.

Kejoro grabbed the little demon at the back of its hakama while covering her face.

"Yes, yes, little one. You are a demon. Now, get out of here before I make you into tofu." Kejoro's eyes glistened as she threatened the little thing. Natto shivered and screamed running out of the room claiming that he saw an old hag.

"baaah, old hag in the room!" Natto teased which earned a popping vein from Kejoro's head. She made a mental note to take care of that thing tonight.

The three other demons followed suit. After a few moments, the four demons vanished in the area. From a far, she could see Kubinashi slightly reprimanding the naughty little thugs reminding them that the human is a guest of the Second Heir. Kejoro sighed. She turned towards the silent Wakana who sat at the corner of the room with a blanket on her face. The longhaired woman smiled and looked at their guest.

Their guest was staring at her in a very peculiar manner. It appeared as if she was being scrutinized from head to toe. Well, it's not something surprising. But was she a curious human. From the way she was looking, she already took every visible detail in. Kejoro chose to ignore it.

"Sorry for that. Are you okay?" Kejoro asked motioning towards the girl, who doesn't seem frightened at the least.

Wakana removed the blanket slowly and looked at the woman in front of her. She asked directly, "Demon or Human?"

"Formerly human, currently demon." Kejoro answered quickly. To her surprise, Wakana just nodded. "Well, honestly, that's a very surprising answer from a human. I bought you your clothes last night. This was washed already."

Wakana was sent back to the present. Events of last night flooded into her brain. It went so fast that it gave her a headache. She winced upon remembering each event and also her unknown assailant, which was basically the end of the memory. She looked around, checking for dangerous beings, but to her surprise, there was none. She looked at the woman in front of her who just observed her.

"Thank you." Wakana smiled taking the clothes neatly laid down in front of her.

"No problem. Dress up so that you can have something to eat. We prepared a meal for you at the common room." Kejoro stood up dusting herself a little. "I'll wait outside."

Wakana nodded. She stood up as well while looking at the woman's departing form. "Uhm…"

"It's Kejoro."

"Nice to meet you, Kejoro-san. I'm Wakana." Wakana smiled warmly. "Thank you for taking care of me."

Kejoro smiled. She didn't know why but she felt a nice tingly feeling towards this woman in front of her. She can see paranormal entities which is relatively a special trait, but to her, she believes that her special trait is not just that, its her ability to quickly adapt.

"Anytime, Wakana-sama." She replied slowly closing the door.

A few steps to the right stood Kubinashi. His eyes were focused towards the door then back to Kejoro. The woman who he knew since his human life smiled towards him.

"She seems to be a pretty interesting woman." Kejoro remarked.

"Seems that way." Kubinashi nodded. "If not, then the second wouldn't have paid attention."

"I have to agree, he was indeed stalking her." Kejoro shrugged. "I think this is the reason for his late night escapades."

Kubinashi silently took in the remark. Honestly, it has been a while since the second took interest in another woman after yamabuki otome. Honestly, he really wished for her to move on. He wished that he met a woman who would once again put a smile towards Rihan-sama's face.

Whoever she may be, he wished for only one thing for the Second heir.

He wished for him to be happy again.

* * *

Rihan sat at the porch quietly taking in the morning breeze. He has been out the entire night with his night parade after taking the girl home. It was a pretty weird set of events. He barely knew her. He was just observing her for the past days and now she's in his home. Normally, this would not have happened. Bringing a woman home is like telling your parents that you're getting married. But then, hopefully this is an exception. She's a normal human, and by lineage, he's only allowed to marry a human if they have skills as great as his mother's.

His right knee was perched up as he leaned on it slightly. He closed his eyes a little bit as if to relax only to feel a nagging aura observing him from a close distance. He slowly moved up and saw the figure of the woman he was just thinking about.

"You." She uttered, adding with much venom in her voice.

Rihan smiked. "Yeah, me. How's sleeping in someone's home?!"

He almost laughed at her reaction. It was priceless. Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish. Her eyes widened at his sudden remark, which for the record he didn't really think of. She took a step back not knowing what to say to his crude statement. All the while blushing profusely at his relatively provocative statement.

"I…I…" Wakana took a while to digest the statement.

_What the hell is wrong with this guy?!_

_Argh…_

_Annoying!_

She stomped her feet and then raised an eyebrow towards the man sitting cockily in front of her. "For the record, its YOU (pointing at him) who kidnapped me!"

"Whoa, easy there, I may be a demon, but I'm no criminal. Kidnapping has never been my style." Rihan shook his head.

"Oh, and then so why am I in a foreign place like these with those annoying creatures going around me making me stink like an old piece of natto?" She retorted.

Rihan almost laughed. _So Natto already gave her his personalized greeting. _He quickly caught himself not to laugh out loud. He closed one eye and looked at her. He stood up gracefully and tuck his hands inside his hakama.

"You know, instead of you accusing me, why don't you just thank me. After all, I did rescue you." Rihan leaned forward looking at her straight in the eye. "Remember?"

Wakana dug through her foggy memory. She was thinking about the favorable events last night about an unknown savior, unfortunately she could not remember. The only thing that would be remotely similar to his declaration is that he would be the guy who knocked her out of oblivion after the entire incident.

She crossed her arms as if challenging him. "Based on my really foggy memory thanks to someone who knocked me out, I don't remember."

Rihan's eyes widened at her retort. Well, point taken, he did knock her out, "You don't really remember?"

_Of course she did. Who won't? _ Wakana thought to herself. The memory of the blood, the broken bodies, dead demons, dead people, it was so clear that to be honest, she wished that she just forgot. But then again, she was never one to trust easily. She also was never one who would make herself vulnerable to people she didn't know, let alone someone who knocked her out last night. She shook her head slightly and looked at him.

"No I don't. So if you're the one who knocked me out last night, I give you my thanks." She said sarcastically. "Whatever happened to me last night is but a figment of forgotten past."

Rihan honestly didn't want to believe her.

"You really don't remember?" He asked disbelievingly.

She shook her head again.

_Persistent demon. _ Wakana thought. "I already said I don't right, or is your hearing affected by your arrogance?"

Rihan raised a fine brow. Well, well, this woman was a fighter. Not one to back down from a fight. He shrugged. With his extra sensitive hearing, he felt that she was rather hungry.

"Well, since you put it that way, I believe you." He nodded. "And thanks to my lacking hearing capacity, I fairly understand that you're starving."

Wakana blushed. She heard her stomach grumble in hunger.

"Follow me." He smirked seeing her blush again for the second time. He smiled slightly walking ahead of her and noticing that she followed without another remark.

_Hehe…_

_She's interesting._

Rihan thought.

* * *

Nurarihyon sensed the coming presence. Gyuki was there sitting beside him eating his fill for breakfast. They glanced at each other looking unaffected by the presence. He continued to eat when the door slid open.

"Old man." Rihan remarked in a relatively cool manner.

_Brat. Acting like someone cool…_Nurarihyon thought. However, he was not one to burst his bubble. For him two people can play that role. Of course the next best thing to do, to look cool is to simply grunt his acknowledgement.

"Hn." The Supreme Commander muttered as he observed Rihan take a seat beside him in the common hall-a few steps away is the young lady.

She is wearing her school uniform. Her brown hair neatly combed, with slight waves at the end. Her light brown eyes keenly observing and taking the situation into perspective, in just one glance, the commander knew that she's pretty smart. She gave a polite bow before taking her seat towards the left of Rihan. Gyuki on the other hand simply gave a nod and continued to eat.

"My old man." Rihan motioned towards Nurarihyon. "This is Gyuki."

"Nice to meet you. I am Wakana." Wakana bowed politely.

Smoothly, Kejoro placed the tray of food in front of Wakana. She was looking down slightly not wanting to look at the two other men inside the room. She didn't know why, but there was a stifling air inside the room. Without proper introductions, she already understood that she was probably in the presence of someone who's nothing short to a mafia boss.

_Such…_

_Intense…_

_Demonic presence…_

Wakana thought to herself. She almost didn't know if she was in a safe place. She could just wish that she wouldn't be served for breakfast. She was caught off guard when the older of the two demons spoke. If she remembered it right, she was this rude guy's old man.

"Eat. Don't worry, we're good people." Nurarihyon assured her. Without asking, he could already detect the anxiety.

She saw her nod a little taking the bowl of rice in her hand and proceeded to take in small bites of food as if trying to be certain that there's no poison in her food.

Nurarihyon smiled.

_Perfect._

Rihan simply ate silently. He gave occasional glances towards their visitor but other than that nothing more. He was still observing her. She simply sat there, not really intimidated by the presence of the two seniors of the Nura clan and proceeded to eat. Well true enough, she appeared anxious but she didn't really show it that much. She simply ate, rather quickly.

"You're obviously hungry." Rihan commented looking at the empty bowl of rice.

She glared at him ever so slightly at his comment.

"Seconds?" Rihan teased.

Blushing for the third time, she shook her head slightly and looked the other way. She noticed from the far corner the figure of the little natto creature making some sort of funny dance as if trying to provoke her.

Her eyes narrowed in slits as if to warn the natto to get away or to get hurt. She heard a soft thud on her tray and looked at it. She saw her bowl filled with rice, a new piece of fish, and a refilled bowl of miso soup. She saw the older man holding a spoon.

"Here, eat more." Nurarihyon smiled gently. Rihan was slightly surprised at his father's gesture but decided not to make any other remark.

Gyuki remained silent. Eating his breakfast….

She simply nodded. "Thank you very much."

The Supreme Commander smiled.

_Perfect._

* * *

After breakfast, Wakana stood in front of the garden of the household. She was surprised as to how many yamabuki flowers are at full bloom. The yellow petals danced with the wind, some of them blowing towards her. To her, this is perhaps the most comforting place inside the unknown household. Despite the cold spring wind, she felt that this area emitted a soft warmth that enveloped her soul.

_Such warmth…_

"Yo." A smooth sultry deep voice took her out of her trance.

"Wha?!" She jumped a step back only to see Rihan looking at her with one eye closed. "My gosh, do you have a hobby of surprising people?!"

Rihan looked up. "Yeah, I think so."

"Sigh, really now. I don't understand you." Wakana shook her head.

"You just looked so deep in thought right there, looking like someone in daze. Nothing beats surprising someone staring into space like that." Rihan laughed. "You should have seen how your hair stood up from your head."

"And I am to blame for that?" Wakana unconsciously ran her hand towards her head, smoothing it. "Geez…"

The taller man simply smiled. Silence came about them. It was not the type of silence that was pretty awkward. It was simply a moment of solitude. Both of them comforted by the warmth of the garden and cooled by the spring breeze. Wakana looked up to him and said,

"I have to go back home."

Rihan looked at her. "You don't have a home to go back to."

_So blunt. With that statement, how am I supposed to respond while feigning amnesia? _Wakana thought. She debated within herself how she was supposed to respond before the guy continued his statement.

"You remember everything right?"

She looked up. He was looking at the garden, but at the same time, he sounded a little bit more serious than usual. She nodded in response. Rihan continued,

"Knowing that, why go back?"

She answered quickly, "They're family."

Her response was very honest and very quick that there was little doubt that she was lying. Rihan felt unconsciously confused with her answer. Honestly, it gave him a nice feeling that this woman knew the value of family. On the other hand, there was worry. He didn't want her to go back home since it was pretty dangerous. Knowing that demons may attack her anytime was not a very reassuring thought.

But correction to anyone assuming that he might have feelings for this woman, that was just a normal reaction of a knight saving a princess.

That's all.

He doesn't want his effort wasted.

Again, that's all.

"I have to go back. They're…still there. I have the responsibility to properly taking care of them as they have done to me." Wakana continued. "Call this gesture, an act of gratitude."

"Well, at least for the purpose of not wasting my effort in saving you, I'll go with you." Rihan looked at her.

Wakana stared at him. "You know you don't have any obligation to do so. Believe me, I can handle this."

"If you're having a hard time accepting my kindness, think of it as if you're my pet. I found my pet and it wants to go back to its home. I might as well send it back safely, right?" Rihan teased. "Not that you're my pet or something. It's just a simple explanation."

"Right. What a way to say it." Wakana's eyes narrowed into annoyed slits. "I thank you for saving me master."

She said it in such a dry manner that Rihan snorted in laughter. His laugh echoed in the area that they were standing in. Wakana looked up to him. His eyes closed, almost near tears. His mouth open in laughter, his white teeth glistening,

_He's laughing…_ Wakana thought to herself

_Rather…_

_In a rather…_

_Cute manner…_

Wakana shook her head to remove those thoughts. She chided herself for that kind of thinking. This was her kidnapper, savior, joker, demon lord stalker, whatever. She's sounding really weird thinking of him as "cute". She was surprised when a big arm rested on her shoulder. Her eyes widened, seeing his face very near him. Both his eyes looked at her intently.

"My name is Rihan Nura." He said in a soft silky voice. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced since the first day we met."

She felt something on her throat. She swallowed hard at the nervousness that she's feeling. Of course, anyone who has a decent mind would feel a little nervous with his closeness. She bowed her head ever so slightly attempting the growing blush on her cheeks. She struggled out of his slight embrace. She took a few steps back trying to regain her composure. She was a hundred percent sure that he was smirking.

True enough, when she raised her head, he was. Not one to back down from that kind of behavior, she smirked back.

"I'm Wakana Koizumi." She extended her hand for a handshake. "Finally, a formal introduction between a human and a demon."

Rihan nodded. "Correction, from a human to a half-demon."

He extended his hand to meet hers. They looked at each other, golden eyes meeting soft brown. The wind fluttered towards them enveloping their handshake with soft petals of yamabuki.

They both smiled.

* * *

To be continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you!


	5. Chapter 2A: Getting to Know you

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 2A: Getting to know you for the First Time**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review. Thank you!

* * *

Wakana took out a small white towel to wipe out some sweat on her forehead. It has been relatively a week since the ordeal that happened in her Aunt and Uncle's home. As of the moment, she transferred to her new home in the middle of the city. This time, she chose a place that would be in the busy district of Tokyo, a few blocks away from the train, which she can take going to school. Right now, she lived in one of the few condominium units that her family owned.

It's not as if their family was well off. In the first place, she does not have any memories of her parents. As far as she knows, the family lawyer was very detailed in mentioning the family assets when she was seven. When she was ten, she moved in this unit with a nanny.

Though, of course, obviously the nanny freaked out after finding out about her ability to see invisible things. She was left alone again. Since then, there was no one, until the day her Uncle Minamoto and Aunt Karin took her in.

_Cough, cough… _Wakana cleared her throat as she carried the box from the kitchen to the storage room. She placed it down, dusting her hands and shook her head, appearing very tired.

"Geez, what happened to this place anyway…" Wakana commented as she started wiping the kitchen sink. This was actually the last place for the cleaning. "So dirty… well, what to expect, the place was vacant for years."

It was obviously unoccupied for a very long time, which is why during the weekend she decided to clean up the place a little bit. In fact, she has been cleaning since she woke up at 5AM in the morning. Hours and hours of cleaning, mopping, wiping, washing, and so on and so forth have passed. She could feel her bones cracking as she walked towards the living room area to check the grandfather clock. She looked up to check on the time.

Right now, its almost noon.

Looking around the place, you can perhaps say, it's pretty bare. It barely had any furniture. The dining room had a table and a couple of chairs. The living room had a white sofa. The bedroom obviously had a bed with some mattresses and the kitchen had the basic necessities. Though the place had natural accents such as paintings on the wall, nice wallpapers, working appliances such as a refrigerator, air condition unit, microwave, rice cooker, and so on and so forth, it still lacked the homey feeling.

Definitely it was a far cry from the home that she was in for the past two years, that home with Aunt Karin and Uncle Minamoto. But as of the moment, she had no choice. With the previous incident, she was forced to move out. Although most of her things are still there, she decided to simply leave them since all she needed were her uniform and food.

Right now, this place is pretty acceptable. It is a decent living space, around 150 square meters, not bad for a single dweller. She looked around, making a mental note to herself of the things that she should buy.

"It's livable. But I do have to do some shopping." Wakana sighed, resigning herself to a lot of work. "No food in cupboard…nor at the fridge…"

Getting a little tired from cleaning, she went to the bedroom to get a white towel and proceed to the shower. She needed to get herself a little clean before she heads to the mall. While in the shower, she started reminiscing about what happened when they arrived at her former home.

* * *

Heading back to her home after her visit to the Nura household, she found the house unscathed as if nothing happened. She looked around the place, trying to look for a mark or any evidence of a battle that occurred, there was nothing. She ran up to her bedroom, nervous if she would see dead rotting bodies, but unfortunately, not of course to her dismay but to a certain extent to her surprise, there was none to be found.

Her room was a clean as it should be. It had the same furniture, the same blankets, the same comforter, the same order her books were arranged, there was no blood stains in the carpet. There was no lingering scent of death or decaying corpses. It was as clean as hotel room, if not cleaner than before.

"What the…," She started to recall the events that happened. This is seemingly surreal. The series of events were very dirty. This is something that's very far from it. She walked back and forth trying to visualize what she saw after she was floored by her aunt.

Surely around this side, it was where she saw the severed hand. Around this side, was the decapitated form of that bird-like demon, the tengu. On this side was the mutilated figure of her Uncle Minamoto.

_But what is this?_

_There was none._

_There's no mark. _

_There's no stain._

_Nothing._

_It was even as if nothing existed in the first place._

_Did they enter the wrong house?_

_How could that be possible?_

Rihan was surprised himself, but he was very skilled in the way he hid it. The house was in one piece. He deliberated within himself if this might be some form of magic or divination spell, but nothing comes to mind. Nonetheless, he considered the place unsafe. A previously contained battleground is nothing more than a field of nicely put flowers, of course in a figurative sense. Obviously, something is fishy about this place.

Right below, Kubinashi, his right hand man who stubbornly wanted to join the two of them looked around the place. He opened doors checking if there are hidden enemies or perhaps spy cameras or something of the sort, but nothing was there. The entire house reeks normal. He went up the stairs and proceeded to stand beside Rihan looking at him with a questioning gaze.

"Are you sure that something similar to a battle happened in this house? Nothing seems amiss?" Kubinashi remarked. Everything looked spic and span.

"That's obviously what's wrong." Rihan muttered. "I can't be hallucinating that I killed three demons that night."

_That's relatively impossible really. _

_He could feel it in his hands._

_Having slain a lot of demons, he couldn't easily forget these things._

"I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is that this does not look right." Kubinashi's eyes scanned the area once again. "It's too organized."

Rihan noted the same thing. For a place that was almost destroyed, this house seemed flawless. He gazed at the woman he accompanied. She was just standing there at awe with what happened. Honestly, he has been very confused with her reactions. On the way here, she was very restless. She looked worried about her aunt and uncle and at the same time, she maintained that flawless smile as she answered some of the questions Kubinashi threw at her.

When they arrived, he felt that she suddenly got stiff and nervous. But again, she smiled as if nothing was bothering her. She proceeded to bravely open the gate and proceed inside, of course, forgetting to invite them in as well—a very expected reaction. But nonetheless, they invited themselves in the house—another expected reaction.

And then this was the next expression. Though she seemed surprised, she didn't really show it to them. She now sat on her bed, taking in the view of her room, and silently questioning herself about the credibility of her experience during that night.

_Was I hallucinating?_

_Was everything that happened a mere figment of my imagination._

_What was I thinking?_

_Is that real?_

_What is real?_

_Are my memories failing me?_

Questions flooded her thoughts regarding the incident. It was something that she now started to doubt. How come there are things that seemed a little off in the room but at the same time it looked like nothing happened? She placed a head on her head as she felt a growing migraine.

She leaned on her bed's frame, tired beyond belief. This time not physically but emotionally and mentally. She closed her eyes slightly trying to recover when Rihan placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to him slightly. Although he was not specifically looking at her, his grip on her shoulder tightened.

"Move out of this place." Rihan muttered, actually, she thought he ordered.

"I agree Wakana-sama. This place doesn't feel right." Kubinashi added, while looking at the form of Kejoro standing beside him.

"I looked at the ground floor, nothing's amiss. Rihan-sama, are you sure there was a battle here. The place looks pristine." Kejoro commented.

"100 percent." Rihan answered. "I can still vividly see it."

They looked around checking the bedroom area once again, Wakana looked up to the three guests, who all went in the room to look around. Rihan sat near the window taking a gaze of the view.

_Pretty nice view of the park. _ Rihan commented.

From her area here, she could clearly see the park and the rest of the city. "You really should move out."

Rihan repeated his instruction. Something in his gut is telling him that she should move to another location. Being haunted by demons like that is something that won't make him feel that she's safe. It's not to say that he is specifically worried about her, perhaps he was just slightly concerned. At the same time, there have been several instances wherein his acquaintances or object of 'concern' have been subjected to such kind of treatment by foreign demons, unassociated with the Nura clan. He thought somehow if his association towards her has an effect.

"Do you have another place to go?" Kejoro asked Wakana. She sat beside her. "If you don't you can stay in the Nura household."

Rihan almost coughed out blood when he heard Kejoro claim such a very assumptive proposal. For one, she didn't own that house, how can she offer it to a total stranger. Although she's no stranger, she's still not part of blood lineage. And the excuses came flooding to his brain.

"That's right Wakana-sama." Kubinashi added, although not looking at Wakana. He stared at Rihan instead. "I'm sure Rihan-sama would like the additional company."

Kejoro smirked. She already knew where this conversation will take them. It was indeed very amusing that after 300 or so years, their commander 'bought' a woman home.

Wakana spoke, disrupting their plan. "Thanks for the offer, but I do have another place to go to. It's not very far from here, though a little bit inconvenient when going to school in the morning."

_Eeeeehhhhh…. _Kubinashi and Kejoro thought to themselves. _Shucks!_

Rihan nodded. "Okay then, you should move out as soon as you can. This place is not going to be safe for anyone."

* * *

Wakana stepped out of the house wearing a blue lace dress paired with a pair of white wedge heels with ribbon straps. Her hair was tied to the side with a flower ponytail. She placed her light brown shoulder bag on her shoulder and walked towards the grocery store.

"Wakana-chan!"

She looked to the direction where she heard her name. She saw Amina, Kimiko, Sousuke, and two other friends coming from the restaurant near the store. She waved her hand towards them along with a bright smile. Amina wore a pair of shorts topped with a sheer white top with a black inner tube top. She paired it with baby doll shoes. Kimiko wore a princess pink lace dress with a pair of beige Mary jane shoes. She accessorized it with a pink sleek headband. Sousuke was plain and simple. He's wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and dark blue denim pants.

"Hi everyone!" Wakana greeted. "Sorry I haven't been able to go to school for the past days."

Amina nodded. "Uhuh, we were really worried about you. When the teacher mentioned that you submitted a letter for leave of absence, we didn't know what to think of it."

"Some of our classmates were pretty persistent in asking about what happened to you." Kimiko followed. "We barely have any idea."

"What happened to you anyway?!" Amina placed her hand on her hips, pouting as she looked at Wakana. "Tell us the truth, we're friends."

Wakana smiled sheepishly. She didn't really know what to say. When she moved to that school, she decided to keep it from her friends that she could see demons. A variety of experiences of transferring to several schools after being shunned by majority of the students, getting dropped by her home tutors since they thought she was crazy, and basically living a single lonely life, she was pretty hesitant in telling them the following…

_Well you see guys, my uncle and aunt were killed by demons._

_I was saved by a rather rude demon named Rihan Nura._

_I saw a couple of other demons, one looked pretty normal except for her gigantic chest and Rapunzel-like hair and the other one lost his neck somewhere out there. _

_Floating heads_

_Eyes out of their sockets_

_Stinky natto_

_Yes, pretty much that was it._

"I just moved out. Had to transfer a lot of my things in the new pad." Wakana answered. She smiled while looking at her friends. "Really, I just had to move out."

It earned a few raised brows but nonetheless they accepted. She felt a sigh of relief when they simply accepted her simple reason. She almost thanked the gods that they did not push for more questions.

Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder scaring her out of her wits. She practically felt all her hair standing on the edge in a mix of surprise and nervousness.

"What the?!" Her reflex was to jump a few steps to the front. Her friends was also surprised but much more amazed at the person that they are seeing right now.

His long sleek black hair was in a low ponytail while covering half of his face, showing only one eye. He's wearing a stripped inner shirt paired with dark jeans and a black leather blazer was the main accessory. One of his hands was in his pocket and the other one was left hanging in the air after Wakana jumped out of it.

_Who?! _Wakana thought. She could barely make out whom this person is. With her limited network, she tried to dig in her mind and try to remember.

"Heh, for a young girl, you're pretty forgetful." His silky deep voice teased.

_Familiar._

_Very familiar…._

Her eyes widened, realizing the identity of this person is. Her friends looked at them back and forth wondering where the awkward situation was originating. Wakana pointed at him with a shaky finger.

"Oh my gosh, you're…" Wakana nervously said.

"Pointing is very rude." Rihan smirked. The girl ignored his comment.

"What are you doing here?!" She remarked incredulously. It's not everyday a demon would appear anywhere, looking very human, dressed in a very human fashion, and speaking in front of humans.

"Standing." Rihan said as-a-matter-of-factly.

_Such an ass…_ Wakana thought to herself almost saying it out loud.

Rihan looked at her. She looked very…pretty. He almost smiled taking in her choice of clothes. It looked very feminine. It hugged her frame in the right places. The color brightened her eyes even more. But again, he was just being appreciative. It's not like he's interested in her or anything. He was just being appreciative.

"Wakana-chan…" Amina interrupted their thoughts. Wakana and Rihan looked at them.

"How do you know Rihan-sensei?" Kimiko asked while looking at Wakana. Nonetheless, the look on her face was priceless. Really, did she hear that right?

"Se-sensei? Teacher? Professor?" Wakana asked. "Are you sure? Him?!"

Wakana looked at Rihan to her friends and then from her friends to Rihan. She pointed at him and continued.

"What's he teaching, history?"

_Touché… _Rihan thought. He made a mental note to hit her head somehow someway later on for that or perhaps get even some other way.

"Well, it's actually Biology." Sousuke replied. He was very curious with the interaction between their teacher and their friend. Something was very weird about it.

Wakana gulped. _Biology? Oh man…._

Rihan wouldn't let this pass. He placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned forward ever so slightly, as if to tease her.

"That's right, Koizumi-san. I'm teaching Biology. As you may have guessed, I'm pretty interested in human body parts…" He felt her twitch, which just encouraged him even more. "Also the flow of human blood…"

" .ha…" Wakana laughed nervously. Well, part of her knew it was probably a joke, but the other part of her, knowing that this guy is basically half demon, gave his statement an ounce of truth.

"Waka-chan, Rihan-sensei is a substitute teacher. He came in last Monday." Kimiko introduced. "He's also currently our homeroom teacher since Okuda-sensei went on a honeymoon."

"Honeymoon? Wow, I didn't even know he got married or something." Wakana nodded.

_How did this guy even produce a birth certificate that showed he's barely a few hundred years old?_

"Neh, Rihan-sensei, how do you know Wakana-chan?" Kimiko smiled, her eyes brightening. When he came to class as a student teacher, she was ecstatic. Obviously, he has a lot girl fans in class.

Rihan smiled slightly towards the other people in the area. He nodded motioned towards Wakana and placed an arm around her shoulder. Wakana's eyes widened. She looked towards his face, which was approximately around a few inches away hers, she noticed the very annoying smirk and also the naughty light in his eyes.

_Oh no…oh no…_

_No…no…no…_

_NOOOOOOOOO!_

"Well, you see…" Rihan started, slightly teasing the girl in his arms. He was pretty amused with her reaction. Even though he's not really a mind reader, he could already figure out what she was thinking, or rather how much rejection there is in her mind. "She's my…"

"NEIGHBOR!" Wakana shouted, a little too loudly at that. Rihan smirked slightly but nodded all at the same time.

"Oh." The three friends nodded, their expressions slightly different from the other. It was pretty interesting how jealous humans can get sometimes. Sousuke was obviously envious and so was Kimiko. On the other hand, Amina was fairly civil with the declaration. Busy with his thoughts, he did not notice the girl move out of his arm. Wakana grabbed the arm of Rihan, which in turn surprised the half-human.

"Well, we're going now. The VERY nice neighbor volunteered to help me shop for groceries this morning." Wakana waved while dragging the shocked Rihan. "See you around!"

Wakana waved to her friends dragging Rihan inside the grocery store. The rest of her friends stared at their disappearing figure. Amina shook her head.

"Very, very suspicious…"

* * *

Inside the store, Wakana let go of him quickly. Rihan stood there beside her, amused by her reactions. She placed her hands on her waist and looked at the much taller man appearing very annoyed with his presence.

"You. What. Are. You. Doing?" She demanded. She looked really annoyed with his presence, but there was this glimmer in her eyes. Was that amusement as well?

"Well, young lady, I just happened to drop by." Rihan answered as if it was second nature. "Can't I go and shop for my own food?"

"Really now…" Wakana really looked like she didn't believe him. "Do you honestly think that I'll believe that?"

"Well, believe it or not, I really did go out of the house…" Leaning on her slightly, whispering the next part, "in human form…" He leaned back. "…to buy some sake."

He smiled towards her. Wakana looked like she was processing the explanation and trying to accept it. Thinking that it would be perhaps useless to argue, she decided to just simply nod and not argue anymore. She went to the steel cart station to get one so she can proceed to her shopping.

"It's pretty useless to argue, so Nura-san, I'll be on my way to shop. I have tons of things to buy." She was cut short when Rihan took the cart from her hand and pushed it for her. "Hey!"

"I'm not busy as of the moment. " Rihan looked back, Wakana following him. "So why don't you keep me company, as thanks for me saving you."

Wakana stopped. That was true. He was her savior. She sighed.

"Don't complain on me if we took a while here."

Rihan laughed. "No problem."

* * *

In the Nura household, Kubinashi was looking around the place for the Second heir. He opened the kitchen area to see if he was there.

"Rihan-sama?" Kubinashi inquired seeing Kejoro, Natto, and three other demons fixing dinner.

"Sorry Kubinashi, not here." Kejoro replied.

Kubinashi rushed to the common room. He slid the door open to see Kurotabo sitting in the middle of the room in midst of meditation. The big guy looked at the guest and shook his head as if already knowing his question. The door slid shut as Kubinashi proceeded near the yamabuki garden.

He rushed to the garden passing by the porch area near the pond. He failed to notice the Supreme Commander with Karasu Tengu observing the pond area and talking about something regarding the clan.

"Kubinashi." Nurarihyon muttered. Kubinashi quickly stopped and looked at the direction where his name was called. "What's wrong, you seem troubled?"

"Supreme Commander." Kubinashi made a bow, as much as a bow it might have been. "I have been looking for Rihan-sama. Pardon my asking you, do you happen to know where he is?"

"Rihan-sama?" Karasu Tengu replied. "Well, we saw him go out of the house around a few hours ago."

"Eh?!" Kubinashi reacted, taking a step back. "What time? When? Where did he go? Who was with him? Why didn't he say anything?!"

"Haha, easy there." The Supreme Commander motioned. "He's a grown man, believe me, he probably went someplace to relax."

"Relax?" Kubinashi wondered. Where would that be?

The Supreme Commander smiled. He looked towards the yamabuki flowers. "Kubinashi, it seems that spring has finally come."

Kubinashi was at a loss for words.

_Spring?_

* * *

Rihan and Wakana walked side by side towards the pad that she's now staying in. The taller man help three paper bags full of various necessities, some toiletries, other food, others items to be used in the house. The smaller of the two carried a bag full of frozen meat and some vegetables.

After doing some groceries, Rihan volunteered to help her carry the bags. The shopping experience was pretty interesting and rather fun. They were teasing each other regarding each item that she purchased. Rihan was also curious with the other things that he saw inside the store. There was a certain amount of truth in the statement that she gave out a while ago. It's not everyday that he actually goes out of his way to buy something in the grocery store.

Well to begin with, why was he in human form? Initially, he was pretty worried about this girl. The series of events were very suspicious. He couldn't explain it but he felt a little bothered with the situation and the lack of explanation with regard to the events. So to satisfy his curiosity, he decided to check up on her a little bit. Taking in some investigation, he found out where she now lives and her school. As a result, he formulated his diploma, biological records, and registered himself as a student teacher.

He was really on his way to purchase some sake today, since his old man instructed him to do so. It just so happened that they bumped into each other today. He looked at his companion. Indeed, she's a little different than the others. She's not as girly, neither is she boyish. She's not totally helpless, but she can make herself look very vulnerable. She can also be very firm, but at the same time very understanding.

Yes, he was fascinated.

In fact, he was very fascinated.

Somehow, deep inside, he wanted to get to know her more.

And as usual, justifying within himself that it was just curiosity.

Nothing more, nothing less…

"Um, Nura-san." Wakana started.

"Call me Rihan."

Wakana made a mental note and continued. "How's being able to live for a very long time?"

"Hmmm…" Rihan looked up. He thought carefully and then answered. "Let's just say that once you get past 50 you think that you haven't aged at all. Time just stops after that."

Wakana looked at him. He honestly didn't look any older than 20 or something. His skin is flawless, his eyes sharp, no eye bags, his tall physique seemed very fit and healthy, nothing would be giveaway his actual age of probably a few hundred years.

"If you don't mind, how old are you?" Wakana looked up, really curious regarding his answer.

"I have also gotten past the point of being interested in answering that question." Rihan smirked, he lifted his index finger and pointed at her head. "But for the satisfaction of this curious mind, I'm a little over 300."

"Hmmm…" Wakana placed a hand under her chin. "Wow, that's a lot of years. You might have even been alive during the Bakumatsu or Tokugawa regime. No wonder you looked really comfortable in traditional Japanese clothing."

Rihan nodded.

"I guess if you've worn that for years, it has been a part of the system. But the years were really interesting. I've seen a lot." Rihan motioned his head towards her. "How about you?"

"Me?" Wakana raised a brow. "What about me?"

"Well, you lived with your uncle and aunt right? Where's your parents?" Rihan asked, turning to their right going towards where she lived right now.

Wakana smiled at him. "Parents? I don't have any."

Rihan looked down, half expecting a dejected look from her. But there was none. Her expression was light and there was no sadness at all. There was a tinge of the feeling of longing, but nothing more than that. Wakana continued.

"I barely have any clear memory before 7 years old." She started. "All I remember was that, I was in the care of a family member during that time. They were very nice to me. But, because of my gift, our relationship took a bad turn."

"Gift?" Rihan inquired. "Oh, the seeing thing."

"Yeah, the seeing thing." Wakana nodded. "You know, being able to see these things were not that easy. When I was a kid, I didn't know that I had to hide these things, or at least stop myself from sharing them. Unfortunately, it was a little too late when I realized that."

She pointed at the next turn. They took the turn and she continued.

"I was asked to take homeschool after getting a series or principal calls when I was around eight to nine. It was pretty tough during that time. I couldn't stop myself from sharing that I saw a head popping out the window, or seeing a reflection which was not mine in a mirror." Wakana laughed. "It was scary at first but believe me, the scarier part was when you find out, no one believes you, worse, they think you're crazy."

He simply listened this time, taking in the story.

"When I was homeschooled, I thought I could tell my tutor. I lived in this pad since then. My relatives kind of were freaked out a bit, so they decided to just let me live on my own with a nanny and my home tutor." Wakana motioned towards the building, they entered together. "I can take that, thanks for carrying them."

Rihan shook his head. "It's okay, I'll help you till you reach your pad."

Wakana smiled and continued. "Thanks. Though, I'm pretty much used to doing this on my own. Anyway, when I was ten, my tutors were a bit tough on me. Again, thinking I'm just making excuses to not study, most of them became a little too, let's say harsh. When I reached 11, my tutors could not take it anymore."

"They left too?" Rihan asked, watching her press the button in the elevator.

"Yeah. But that's to be expected." Wakana nodded. "I thought to myself since then, maybe I should keep it to myself. And there it was. I decided that I shouldn't tell anyone about it."

She paused and then appeared to reminisce. "But, amidst all those, I guess the one thing that allowed me to hold on was the fact that there was a friend of mine, one friend, who really sincerely listened to me."

Wakana pulled out the key to her pad and opened the door. She welcomed Rihan to come in. He politely said his greetings and went directly to the kitchen to place the bags of groceries. He scanned the room. It was pretty simple home. Though not fully furnished, it was big and spacious.

"Nice place you have here." Rihan nodded.

"Thank you. This was my home before I moved in to Aunt Karin's place." She began unpacking the groceries. "Tea?"

Rihan nodded in acknowledgement. "You mentioned you had a friend."

A tinge of annoyance was felt inside his chest.

_What was that?_

_Come on now._

_Petty._

Wakana smiled.

_Again there was that tinge._

_Why was she smiling anyway? _Rihan thought.

_Was that friend…_

_A guy?_

"His name is Sakuya." Wakana continued. Rihan was sure that he felt like he wanted to stop her from telling him anything more, but he thought it would be rude. "He's a friend back in my old school. Although I don't know if he believed me, he pretty much listened every time I felt bad. In fact, he was my only confidante then."

Rihan wanted to change the topic.

"So what do you think of demons now?"

Wakana placed some goods in the cupboard. She glanced slightly at the now standing Rihan. He was standing beside the kitchen countertop as if waiting for her answer. She was probably getting used to him popping anywhere and acting in a very freshly arrogant manner.

"I think demons are…" Wakana paused. "…curious things."

"Curious?" Rihan wondered. He picked up the rest of the goods and placed it in the cupboard. "What do you mean?"

"Like that. Everything for them is a new mystery and well, for me, everything about them, is also a mystery." Wakana opened the fridge. It was pretty surprising as to how casual they have become to each other. Perhaps, she just felt comfortable sharing since he's half-demon, half-human.

"Hmm…" Rihan crossed his arms and leaned on the kitchen countertop.

Wakana took in a glance of her companion. This time, instead of annoyance, she felt a little fascinated with him. He looked very human. He appeared to be someone who understood being human and being a demon. She wondered how he felt growing up in that kind of disposition, but she was in no way to ask. She turned off the stove when it made a boiling noise and poured the water in the teapot.

"How about you, what do you think of humans?"

Rihan looked back at her. Their eyes locking for a while. Somehow, he was pulled towards her. He was now standing on the other side of the table, perhaps, there was only about a meter or two that separates the two of them.

"Humans…I think they're…" Rihan smiled at her. "Curious beings."

Wakana laughed softly. "No originality." She handed him the cup of tea.

"Thanks." He took a sip and then looked back at her. "Hey…."

"Hmmm?" Wakana raised her brow.

When she looked up, he looked entirely different. The setting sun behind him gave him a more mysterious aura. His hair raised up from a low ponytail to spiky anti-gravity hair. He looked like someone who came out of a rock band. What was also magical, his clothes are also different. He's now wearing his usual striped kimono.

He glided towards her. She took a step back as a reflex. She leaned on the table hooking her hands on both sides to support her. Rihan placed both of his arms opposite her body. His face a few inches away from hers, their breath almost reaching each other. He said smoothly.

"Wanna come with me?"

* * *

To be continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you very much!


	6. Chapter 2B: Knowing you a little bit

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 2B: Knowing you a little bit more**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review. Thank you!

**Author's note: **The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see.

For this coming chapter, it's a little more Rihan-Wakana time. Hope this is serves as a nice teaser.

* * *

The demons in the parade were acting in a rather unusual manner. As of the moment, they cannot be blamed for it since it's basically their first time to have a woman join them in the night march. The Second sat in front of the parade with her sitting very close by. Since most of the demons in the parade already accepted the second's principles of accepting and supporting demon and human co-existence, it is still a little awkward for them to spend time with a woman, let alone during their night escapades.

Kejoro, Kubinashi, and Kurotabo sat the closest to Wakana and the second. It was for defensive reasons and at the same time to properly observe her. From afar, they can already sense the cautious behavior of their comrades, but at the same time, they were all fascinated with the way she reacts to them.

For one, as a human, she's not very scared of them.

In fact, they all think she's pretty comfortable.

Pretty used to seeing the likes of them.

To be honest, it's a little unnerving.

But at the same time, comforting…

Wakana looked around the area. Here she is sitting on top of the head of a giant flying demon. A few inches in front of her sat Rihan, the supposedly Second Heir of the Nura clan. According to Kubinashi, the Nura Clan is the greatest demon group or organization in all of Tokyo. The Supreme Commander, the so-called old man of Rihan, is the Lord of Pandemonium. Just hearing the name, it sounds like he won some kind of war or it feels like the family can be compared to human royalty.

But aside from the unique experience of being with them during their night out, the most mesmerizing thing is the view of the city from above. It is something that cannot be seen on a regular basis unless you're flying via plane. She smiled softly, enthralled by the beauty of the landscape and the serenity of the lights.

Rihan noticed her enchantment to the view of the city. When he first did this in this manner, he felt the same thing. At that moment, he felt that he could conquer the world. The wind continued to blow towards him. These experiences up in the air are the one that makes him feel that he can do anything. It's not just about the battle trophies, but more so, its about the feeling of being complete, of being in control and at the same being on top of everything. For him, this is perhaps what people call, the conqueror's ambition.

For Rihan, everything is working well for him. He has a very big demon parade. He has won all battles. He has a very strong father with a hero reputation. He has great friends. What more can he ask for?

_A wife…_

_An heir…_

_A family of his own…_

Every time he thought of it, he felt depressed. Right now, there's no one for him. He's on his own in this respect. For the past years, he didn't really look for one, he was a little content to being on his own. There's no denying that there is pressure coming from the council of the Nura Clan regarding an heir or perhaps at least a wife. But he didn't care. He had women, yes, but someone he considered to be his better half, none. Also, it's not as if he's not looking for someone, it's just that no one fits the criteria.

"Rihan-san…" Wakana said softly, trying not to command too much attention. Rihan looked back at her, a little startled since he was too deep in thought.

"Hm?" Rihan looked at her with one eye, no can blame him, he was born arrogant.

Wakana's head was bent down in a very ladylike fashion. Her hair dancing with the wind, her hand holding her skirt to avoid it from flying, while the other one was playing on the edge of his kimono. He smiled to himself.

"Yes?" Rihan repeated, in a softer voice this time.

Wakana lifted her head and smiled, "Thank you."

Rihan felt some sort of warmth in his chest. A little taken aback with her reaction and perhaps how absolutely enchanting her smile is. Their past encounters were filled with all other emotions except happiness. Her smile was something that he had never seen before and at the same time it was something that felt a little different than usual. He nodded slightly and then responded,

"More to come." Rihan initiated. He pointed downwards making her look at the direction where he pointed. "This is nice isn't it? I really like this view. Everything looks like its part of a very big light festival. Peaceful but at the same time spellbinding."

"Hmm, Yes it is." Wakana nodded and smiled softly. "I wish days would pass to be as peaceful as tonight. Nothing to worry about, nothing to be scared about, nothing to be sad about, what a wonderful life it must have been."

Rihan glanced at her as she said those words—full of meaning, full of intent. Her eyes were firm and soft at the same time. In the middle of this peaceful night, he could see both her vulnerability as a woman and her strength as someone who has gone through so much. He had to admit it this time, there was a growing admiration for this woman.

Silently, to himself, he vowed to fulfill her wish. He hoped that he had enough ability to be able to do so.

Kejoro smiled. They can clearly hear the conversation but none of them decided to interrupt or bother the slowly developing relationship between their commander and their guest, or perhaps soon, no longer guest but family member as well.

_This is a very peaceful night._

Out of nowhere, a barrage of feathers came swirling attacking the parade. The feathers came from a two _yosuzumes_. Attacking the parade, it disrupted the flow of their patrol making the group slowly land near the park area. Rihan quickly took Wakana to a tight embrace attempting to cover her eyes. Getting used to this kind of battle, Rihan already knew what will happen.

"Kuroutabou." Rihan commanded. His right hand man immediately launched an attack towards the two demons.

Kejoro and Kubinashi positioned themselves at the helm of their transport demon. Using his strings, he guided the demon that was blinded by the yosuzume's feathers to a safe but desolate landing path.

The big demon landed in an isolated place. Kejoro, Kubinashi, and Kuratabou immediately went into battle position. Rihan jumped down carrying Wakana to his side. She was not saying anything except that her hands were covering her eyes. Rihan bent slightly forward to check on her.

"Are you okay?" He asked. There was a hint of worry in his voice. She was holding on to her face, her tiny hands covering her eyes. Wakana simply nodded without saying anything.

He held her shoulders as if to check if she was trembling, perhaps she might be afraid. She was slightly trembling and he started to worry. He held her arms and then tugged slightly as if requesting for her to remove her hands from her eyes.

"Let me see…" Rihan motioned, holding her hands.

She slowly removed her hands and Rihan saw that the feathers of the yosuzume affected her. He knew that she could not see anything. He explained to her the current situation.

"We were attacked by a yosuzume. It's a demon wherein if a feather touches your eyes, you will lose your sight. Although this is temporary, it might take some time." Rihan added. "But don't worry (he held her hand), trust me, I won't let you go."

She simply nodded. There was no choice anyway. She couldn't see a single thing and it was something that made her scared. All she could sense is that his hand is wrapped around her right hand. Her left hand was placed close to her chest. To someone who doesn't know them, they would probably be thought of as a couple. His left hand was interlaced with hers as hers to his hands.

Using his right hand, he drew Nenekirimaru in defense. Although it appeared like he need not do anything since his three comrades are doing a really great job defending them, he knew he had to take caution. It was not like his usual battle, there is something he needed to protect.

His eyes widened at his thought.

_Something I needed to protect?_

_I needed to protect?_

Glancing towards the woman beside him. He took everything into his memory. Sensing that there was another demon heading towards them, he focused his sight towards the bear demon running towards their direction. Eyes narrowed in slits, used with this kind of adrenaline, he didn't even need to move. In one full swing, the bear demon was decapitated.

Wakana's heart was beating so fast she thought she was in a marching parade. She could barely breathe. She knew that a battle was ongoing. She could hear the clash of steel and the sound of breaking flesh and bones. She didn't know what to think. Why does this always happen to her? Why does she always have to see these things? She could sense that tears are starting to form in her eyes, but she was surprised when Rihan's hand tightened as he held to hers. Even without her sight, she looked at her hand and his.

It was a reassurance. She tightened her grip ever so slightly as well.

Rihan noticed that she tightened her hold onto his hand. He tugged her slightly towards him almost feeling her side towards his back. After a few more seconds, Kurotabou and Kubinashi killed the two yosuzumes. Rihan nodded towards his generals as a sign of acknowledgement for their accomplishments. He turned towards Wakana and slightly, and regretfully let go of her hand.

Wakana felt the tinge of fear when he let go but was pulled out of her emotions when her vision started to return. Blurry in the beginning, she blinked hard, rubbed her eyes slightly. A soft deep silky voice asked her,

"Can you see now?"

Wakana looked up and saw Rihan's face about three to four inches away from her. His hands were on her shoulders. He was looking deeply into her eyes. Although she could barely see, she could feel the heat building up on her face. Her hands immediately covered her face in shame.

"Ahh, I'm sorry…" She blushed. "I caused much trouble."

"Hahahaha!" Rihan laughed, "What are you talking about? You didn't cause any trouble."

"But I had to be the burden, you had to take care of me." Wakana looked up and sighed. "Really really sorry…"

_Protect… _Rihan recalled his thoughts. Indeed, it was a first for him after a long time. He never knew it would come out of him again, the desire to protect something—someone.

"You were not a burned, Wakana-sama." Kejoro placed a hand on her shoulder.

Wakana looked at her direction, vision still blurry but she recognized Kejoro. The form of Kubinashi was also near the area and another one who she doesn't recognize. Kubinashi stood beside Rihan who in turn was just looking intently at her.

"Rihan-sama, I think it's time to send Wakana-sama home." Kubinashi recommended. Rihan looked at him and nodded.

"Time to go back." Rihan told towards Wakana.

She nodded and smiled.

"Yes." Wakana looked to each of them. "Thank you very much."

She then glanced back towards the rest of the demon parade and grinned towards them.

"Thank you also to all of you."

The demons had their own reactions, some of them sort of blushed, some of them hid their faces, others turned around a little shy. Natto had his arms crossed but his eyes were considerably softer.

Rihan felt nice. A woman accepting his demon parade and expressing her gratitude towards them. Wakana looked towards him and tugged his kimono slightly. He looked down towards her.

"I'll bring you home."

Wakana nodded.

* * *

The Second's demon parade arrived back at the Nura household. The Supreme Commander sat at the porch drinking with Gyuki, Karasu Tengu, Daruma, and Hitotsume. They noticed the arrival of the second and he lifted his cup to acknowledge him

"Yo, welcome back. Did you enjoy your patrol?" The commander smirked towards the direction of his son.

Rihan smiled and then gave a nod to excuse himself. Without a word, he proceeded to his room. Needless to say, everyone was a little surprised with his reaction, most of all surprised with the smile. If it were any other day, he would have joked around with his father or joined them for a drink, or for some bad days he would just glare at them. But today, a totally different smile, what was that all about?

"We need enlightenment Kubinashi." Hitotsu looked at the demon standing near the supreme commander, who simply drunk more.

Gyuki sipped from his cup and proceeded for another refill.

"Well~" Kejoro started, "Let's just say, we had a…great day."

"A great day indeed." Kubinashi nodded.

"Well, if that's the case, then this calls for a celebration!" The Supreme Commander lifted his cup. "Let's go you all, let's have a party!"

A barrage of cheers echoed in the household and everyone proceeded in the common room.

Rihan heard the cheers from the common room, who wouldn't? It was so loud he almost felt the entire household shake. He smirked thinking that his father probably said that they'll have a party. Usually he wanted to join, but today perhaps will be an exception. He looked at the night sky and then to the Cherry Blossom tree in front of his room that is in full bloom.

He sat there, leaning on the doorframe of his open room recalling the things that happened for the day. He surprised himself that today was a day wherein he didn't go to the yamabuki garden. Today was also a day wherein he didn't really think of his former wife. Was he forgetting her? Not really. Their memories are still as strong as ever. It's just that, today, there was HER.

He sighed to himself. His left hand was warm. His body could still remember how close they were a while ago. When he took her home, how she smiled before she closed the door, it gave him butterflies in his stomach. And now, he somehow longs for the touch.

_It has been a while…since I held onto someone like that…_

_I guess, 300 years is a long time…_

_For me to feel like this…_

_As if it's my first time…._

Rihan smiled.

* * *

"Wakana-chan!" Amina greeted from the other side of the room.

Her friend just arrived to class. Wakana was a little early today. Well, to be honest, that's because she barely slept. The demon parade, the demon attack, the demon holding her hand was all too much for her. She felt a blush creeping to her face, which in turn merited a curious look from Amina and Kimiko, who also just arrived.

"Eh? Was that a blush Waka-chan?" Kimiko looked forward as if intently checking on her. "Hmmm…something is fishy and you're not telling us! Waka-chan!"

Amina smirked and then dragged the nearest chair and sat beside Wakana.

"Hey, is something going on with you and Rihan-sensei?" She whispered in a curious manner.

Wakana's eyes widened. She looked at Amina, stuttering "W-wha? Are you kidding… I-I never would h-have…"

Amina started laughing. She couldn't believe it. Wakana was a pretty bad liar to begin with. "You know, I don't mind. As your friend, I give you my support."

Amina placed a hand over her shoulder. Kimiko on the other hand, was not able to ride with them during their conversation. She was pulling on their blouses persistently asking about what they were talking about. The door suddenly slid open and of course, Rihan-sensei's figure arrived.

"Okay noisy brats, class is starting." He said, everyone rushed towards their seat after the girls had their fan girl moment. Rihan slid the door shut.

Wakana felt uncomfortable to say the least. She took a deep breath.

_Focus Wakana. _

_Remember, you don't know Rihan_

_In fact, this is the first time you have seen him_

_And mental note to self_

_It's Nura-sensei._

Rihan looked around the room a bit to check if Wakana is there, although he knew he shouldn't be that obvious. So he also looked at the other side to cover it up. He saw her. She was looking at his direction in a very stoic expression. It's a little unnerving but two can play that game.

"I see that you have arrived from your leave, Koizumi-san." Rihan took out the attendance and made his roll call.

Wakana simply made a polite bow to acknowledge him.

"Alright, roll call done. Let's start homeroom." Rihan took a piece of chalk and started to write on the board. "School fair is coming. The teachers had a draw lot thing to see what you'll be in-charge of doing. For this class, its haunted house."

Everyone was cheering loudly. They got the neat assignment for the School Fair. Sousuke raised his hand from the back. Rihan nodded to acknowledge his query.

"Sensei, I would like to volunteer as the activity head for this."

Everyone acknowledges Sousuke. He's the class ace to say the least. Everyone gravitated towards him. He plays basketball, soccer, football, name it he can play it. He's smart, not really top of the class like Wakana and Amina.

Rihan nodded. "Sure. Anyone against it?"

No one raised their hands. Sousuke continued, "But I would like to request sensei, if I can have a committee."

"Committee? A main planning group you say."

Sousuke nodded.

"I don't see anything wrong with that. Okay, choose your committee." Rihan leaned on the board looking at the young assertive man.

"Thank you sensei. My committee will be, Amina-san, Kimiko-san, and Wakana-san." Sousuke stared at Rihan as he said the name.

Rihan almost broke the piece of chalk if he did not control himself. That little brat was trying to provoke him, not to mention outsmart him. Well he did outsmart him. He didn't realize that he would be choosing that committee. But again, he can ride with that. 300 years worth of experience is not just nothing…

"Okay. I think that would do. " Rihan nodded seeing a slight smirk from the expression of the young man. "Whenever you have updates or plans, make sure you include me in your meetings."

Sousuke's eyes widened at what he said, not to mention Amina's, Kimiko's, and Wakana's eyes. Wakana was bewildered at his statement. Since he mentioned it to Sousuke, there seems to be nothing wrong, but the way those two are looking at each other, they seem to be ready to bite each other's heads off. Amina really felt like bursting into laughter. She knew of Sousuke's feelings for Wakana and of course how deathly jealous he became after yesterday's incident near the grocery. But for Rihan-sensei for respond like that, this is getting too interesting.

_Hahahaha…totally makes my day! _Amina wondered.

"YAY!" Kimiko jumped up from her chair, oblivious to the ongoing verbal challenge between her teacher and her friend. Rihan and Sousuke looked at her. "Of course sensei! Kimiko will update you!"

_Like the fan girl that she is. _Amina placed her head on her hand looking at the direction of Kimiko. A series of "no-fair", "I want to update sensei", and so on went about the room. Wakana simply shook her head on the other side of the room and sighed.

_What was that all about. Come on now…_

Sousuke and Rihan went back to their staring challenge amidst the chaos that was going around the room.

_Impertinent brat…_

_Nosy teacher…_

There was friction. Indeed this was homeroom / science class.

* * *

To be continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you very much!


	7. Chapter 3A: Daytime and Nighttime Trips

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 3A: Daytime and Nighttime Trips**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review, keeps me motivated to write. Thank you!

**Author's note: **The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see.

**Note for the chapter:** the first part of Chapter 3 would be really short. So please be patient with me. Chapter 3 part 2 will definitely dwell more on the real plot of this story.

* * *

"Where have you been going?"

Nurarihyon was leaning on the wall of the front porch of the Nura household. For the past weeks, Rihan has been going somewhere every morning in his human form, wearing what humans refer to as a suit. Not that Rihan looks bad or something, for the First, he always had this bias about wearing traditional Japanese clothing. As of the moment, the questioned is putting on his "leather" shoes ready to head out again.

"Somewhere fun." Rihan replied not looking up and still putting on his shoes.

"Fun? Does that place have a lot of girlies?!" Nurarihyon teased. "I'm coming with you!"

"STOP!" Rihan placed a hand in front of his dad. Nurarihyon paused looking a little surprised with the gesture but not really intimidated. "Bye."

In a second, Rihan was out of the house. That one startled the older man.

"That brat, where has he been going?" Nurarihyon said out loud, huffing and puffing as if putting on a tantrum like a kid that was left alone by the parent. "All dressed up and all…"

"Rihan-sama refers to the place as school." Kubinashi responded, Karasu Tengu flew in front of the commander.

"It's where kids go these days to study." Karasu Tengu added.

"I know what school means you dolts!" Nurarihyon snorted. Of course he knew what school meant. It's the haven of young ladies and not to mention where some guys go there, which is basically negligible. "So, why is that guy going there?"

Karasu tengu looked sneakily at Kubinashi. "You better tell the commander Kubinashi."

Kubinashi debated to himself if he should put his master on the spot and avoid the question of their commander while risking losing his head (not really the neck part anymore since it's not there) or obey the hierarchy and tell the supreme commander.

"Nevermind." Nurarihyon said shaking his hand towards a wide-eyed Kubinashi. "He's old enough."

Kubinashi let go a sigh of relief. Karasu Tengu followed his retreating master. The second hand of Rihan looked towards the open gate of the Nura household thinking about his master. Indeed, the supreme commander was right. He is old enough to know what he's doing, but how come during the past days, he's acting like he's a child. There were days wherein he would muse alone staring into space. The days wherein Wakana-sama joined them for their night patrols, Rihan-sama would be too excited that he'd be a few steps ahead of them and around 10 minutes ahead of schedule. But when he's with Wakana-sama, he'd be as cold as ice as if acting like the "mysterious cool guy".

Kubinashi smirked. He hoped that his master already knows how deep he has fallen.

But he highly doubted that.

Conceited? That he is.

Dense. Another description.

In love?

Kubinashi smirked.

Yes. Definitely. But I don't think he knows.

* * *

Wakana shook her head while letting go of the long held sigh. They've been planning for hours for the haunted house project but all they came out was nothing. Why was that, it was because their idiotic class president and selfish homeroom teacher have been glaring at each other since the meeting started. Amina on the other hand was too busy observing the catfight and Kimiko has been staring at their teacher non-stop. In her mind, she remembered what happened in the classroom during their planning session…

_Testing their listening skills to the plans that she presented, she wrote down a nonsense proposal asking them to sign as an agreement. Guess what, they all signed. _

_Wakana slammed her hands on the table startling the rest of the team. They almost jumped out of their skin. Looking up to her, she looked really pissed off. She tore the piece of paper._

"_You know, if you (pointing at Sousuke) and you (pointing at their teacher) have nothing better to do than glare at each other, and you (pointing towards Kimiko) would want to lose your eyes as you act like a lost fan girl, and you (pointing at Amina) have nothing better to do than enjoy the childish glare-game, I have better things to take care of." Wakana took out her bag and stormed off the room._

"_Waka…na…" Sousuke stood up, guilty as charged. His face with cold sweat. He didn't notice the time, he was too busy getting mad at their very arrogant and cocky teacher. "Damn…"_

_Rihan almost shook his head but caught himself. Well, indeed that was a little too childish of him too. Playing a staring game against a child barely 1/16th of this age. But he was feeling very territorial. This brat seemed to be breaching his human blood and obviously showing him how fascinated he is with Wakana. Although to be honest, he had no idea why he was being possessive and obsessive about it. Not that they have any relationship, but he thought that the days that they have been going out and their frequent night patrols would have made them closer._

_Closer?_

_Um…_

_Why do they need to be close?_

_Why is it important for him?_

_Amina stood up and giggled making them look at her. "Well that was amusing. Hahaha, keep it up Sousuke-kun, …."_

_She kept on giggling to herself as she left the room headed towards the direction Wakana is going. Sousuke stood up getting his bag dragging himself out of the room while feeling very bad about the sermon and also being so immature. But he still looked back at their much more juvenile teacher._

"_Tsk…", He felt really annoyed with his teacher's obvious possessiveness. "What do they have anyway, .they're neighbors alright but not really lovers. Annoying teacher…"_

_Rihan felt his stare but he didn't want to act any more childlike as he could. He is the "teacher". He heard Sousuke leave the room leaving him with Kimiko, the girl who has been showing her intentions towards him. He looked at the girl and smirked._

"_Time to go home. I'll see you tomorrow." He said. Kimiko nodded obediently while not leaving her gaze at Rihan._

_He shivered at how intense her stare is. He opened the door, left the room, closed the door, and then vanished in a hurry. He had a woman to catch._

Wakana kicked that small stone in her way. She was really pissed off. She worked hard the entire night on that plan for the school fair and all they did was stare at each other. They passed the test of being insensitive today. She kicked another stone. She heard a small "ouch" towards the direction that she kicked it and then she looked up. She saw a small demon holding its face.

The demon looked like a child with green hair. But he was obviously a demon because of its horn. Trying to sense it's intentions, it didn't look particularly evil. She stepped forward towards the child-like demon.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. The demon was looking extremely petrified at her. Who won't be scared? You just got hit by a stone by a human woman who's not supposed to be seeing you.

The demon slowly looked up. From this side she could clearly see the bump on its head caused by the stone. She slightly winced. She took out her handkerchief and extended her hand towards the demon.

"I'm really sorry, that looks painful." She smiled slightly. The demon looked at her. It seems to have acknowledged her to be a nice person. The demon child raised its head and smiled towards Wakana's direction.

"It's alright nee-chan." The child demon nodded. It took the handkerchief and ran away. It waved towards Wakana before totally vanishing.

Wakana waved back at the small demon. She berated herself by being too disrespectful. She could have hurt someone else or perhaps a vindicated spirit would have been hit instead of that nice demon. By then, she could have been in a very dangerous situation. She made a mental note not to kick anymore stones, perhaps she could just do something else instead.

"Yo!"

Wakana felt her soul evaporate due to the shock. She held her chest to calm her rapidly pounding heart. She looked up and saw her teacher in his demon form. No longer wearing the suit as Rihan-sensei, he's now in his striped black and green kimono with the sword on his waist.

"Do you honestly want to kill me?!" Wakana asked in a fairly loud tone.

"Of course not." Rihan answered quickly. "What got you so unfocused? I've been here for about a minute or two already."

"Minute or two?" Wakana was amazed. How can that even happen, she was that much in the zone to not notice his awfully noticeable presence? "What do you want?"

"Nasty, nasty…easy there woman." Rihan teased, she only glared back.

"Who won't be nasty, you pretty rude half demon, half human or whatever you are!" Wakan crossed her arms showing him how pissed off she was.

She thought she could treat him brashly since they're no longer in school. He's no longer the teacher and she's no longer the student. They have been treating each other in this manner for a while now. Rihan sighed. He knew that she probably felt a little annoyed, okay correction, really annoyed with his behavior a while ago.

His hand reached the back of his head and he looked away. "…ummm… Sorry."

Wakana looked up, in shock for the second time in a few minutes. Did she hear that coming from none other than the heir to the pandemonium? She stared at his features, he was blushing ever so slightly. She smiled, this time sincerely smiled.

He looked absolutely handsome. His dark locks, which seemed like it was glued together swayed with the wind. His golden eyes staring into the sky. The sunset only made him look more surreal. She took in every detail, from his nose, eyes, skin, chin, neck, everything looks really unearthly.

Unable to notice how her body moved, her hands reached towards his face shocking Rihan. He immediately looked towards her. She seemed to be out in a trance with her gestures. Her hand reached his cheek. Rihan looked at her and saw how her eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun. The orange rays reflected back in her light brown orbs. Her light skin blushed in light pink in this comforting but dimming sky.

The lights in the lampposts started to flicker as it readies itself for the night. A warm touch was something he thought he longed for a while now. But he never knew he missed it this much. His eyes staring intently into hers. His hand slowly moving to reach towards her cheek. Before he being able to reach it, she slightly slapped him twice in the cheek pulling him back to reality. She could see the playfulness in her eyes.

"Bad boy." She teased. "You deserve that slap."

Rihan's eyes widened and to their surprise, both of them, he blushed. What was he thinking? He almost…

No, he didn't want to think about it.

He didn't want to think that he wanted to…

Touch her…

To…

Kiss her…

Argh…

Wakana laughed to herself, but trying her best to hide how nervous she was. Honestly, she felt the moment. It was as if she was being dragged into a black hole. But luckily, she pulled herself out. She stepped out of the room and started to head to the direction of her home. Rihan was still in his own thoughts while looking at her.

"See you tomorrow, sen-sei…"

Rihan watched her retreating form while still lost in thought. He whispered to himself,

"See you tomorrow…Wakana."

* * *

To be continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you very much.


	8. Chapter 3B: Daytime and Nighttime Trips2

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 3B: Daytime and Nighttime Trips**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review, keeps me motivated to write. Thank you!

**Author's note: **The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see.

By the way, Chapter 3 will be broken into three parts unlike Chapter 1 and 2. I guess it can get noticeably hard to read when it gets too long. Again as a slight warning, some personalities can get a little OOC but I'm trying to really make it all fit the main plot. Hope you can bear with it for a while

* * *

Today was the day of the school fair. Everyone in the school is very busy to fixing their own booths and assignments. The front of the school was full of several stalls, some selling takoyaki or okonomiyaki, others selling some souvenir items. The school clubs also opened their booths for recruitment.

One of the classes took the otaku course and had a cosplay store. Everyone in the room wore the costume of their favorite anime character. By popular demand, most of them came out wearing something like Naruto, Luffy, and Ichigo of Naruto Shippuden, One Piece, and Bleach respectively.

Another class took the maid café route. To battle them, the other class hosted a butler café. Looking like there's a rivalry going on, they tried their best to invite people, or rather force people to visit their classrooms, which in turn had a slightly detrimental effect, everyone got a little scared to go there.

But other than that, the fair is going smoothly.

Meanwhile, Rihan's class is still fixing their room for the haunted house effect. Most of the designs are finished, since they've been working on it all night. The props committee really did a lot to make the room appear like it's a haunted room. Tons of cobwebs, tombstone designs, hanging skeletons, even the gas effect, they really did one heck of a job. The principal gave them permission to use the entire ground floor of the building as the haunted house. It was a pretty big area, but it definitely created a more haunted effect.

Kimiko ran from the other side of the hall to the assistant committee head, Amina. She was carrying a box filled with rubbed spiders, snakes, and rats that she will be placing inside the haunted "hall" or "classrooms".

"Amina-chan, have you seen the cobwebs?" Kimiko asked as she was putting on the black lights inside the room. "I can't seem to find them. I was thinking of putting these rubber spiders in those."

"Wakana-chan took them inside." Amina replied looking up while digging in a box of props, specifically skulls. "By the way Kimiko, you look nice in your outfit. You look exactly like Sadako."

"Really?" Kimiko giggled while turning around. She was wearing an old white dress, she wore a black wig that covered half of her face. "You look really nice too in your bakeneko outfit, though it doesn't look scary. It looks rather sexy."

Amina is wearing a leather cat suit with cat ears and her hair flowing down to her shoulders. She also had whiskers to complete her look. To be honest, she looked more like the catwoman from batman.

"Well, I couldn't really think of any other costume, so I really thought this would look cute and sexy." Amina looked at herself. "But on the other hand, Sousuke really worked hard in his costume, he looked like a dead man from the Tokugawa period."

Kimiko looked at Sousuke, who's wearing a Shinsengumi outfit that had a lot of blood in it. His face as white as chalk to complete the look, there was a big wound on his head made of make up and food color. He had his hair up in a neat ponytail while borrowing a hair extension from his sister. He looked like an assassin.

"Look at that." Amina commented, "The extensions really did a great job. He looks like a different person."

"Good job Pres." Kimiko made an "okay" sign towards their president. Sousuke gave a nod to acknowledge her but still proceeded to check on the rest of the class. "But, neh, Amina-chan, I'm pretty excited as to what costume Rihan-sensei would wear…gyahh! He'd look great in anything!"

As if on cue, Rihan appeared. Of course to make it easier for him, he appeared in demon form, complete with his hair up, a sword in his waist, and his trademark black and green kimono, to complete the look, with glowing amber eyes. It was a fan girl's dream, basically Kumiko's dream come true. Most of the students gawked at their teacher.

"Yo!" Rihan smirked, one eye closed. "How are you guys doing with the set-up?"

"Kyaaaaaaahhhhh!" Every girl within the 5-kilometer radius shouted like crazy. Rihan winced at the sheer volume but still continued to look around the area

He didn't realize that screaming girls would be really fatal. He focused his eyes on Amina who was just smiling at him and then shook her head proceeding to the box of skulls. Kimiko on the other hand, no longer looked like scary little Sadako, instead she looked like a normal girl, gawking at him in his awe-inspiring moment. He really just had to add that one up to his observations. Surprising him a bit, a woman dressed in a traditional kimono came out of the room. She was running with a worried expression on her face.

"What's wrong?!" She looked around with a worried expression.

Wakana emerged from the room wearing a kimono that looked like it came from the time of Nurarihyon the first. It almost looked drastically similar to what Yohime wore before, it made Rihan think deep if anyone in the Nura household let her use his mom's old clothes. The beautiful black and white kimono was designed with red flower petals. Its length is extra long, covering her feet entirely. To add to the exceptionally traditional look of a traditional Japanese maiden, she wore hair extensions that made her hair reach up to her waist.

Rihan's eyes widened at her appearance. Needless to say, he was speechless. She was extremely beautiful. No, correct that she was not just beautiful, she was beyond that. Wakana, on the other hand stopped in her steps when she saw their teacher in his demon form. Her eyes widened with her mouth gaping wide.

_In DEMON FORM?!_

_How can he…_

_Oh my gosh…_

Wakana couldn't even believe her eyes when Rihan came in demon form. But how can everyone see him this time, he's in demon form. But she surmised that he could probably manipulate his presence. But to come in this form, in broad daylight, in the midst of his students, looking very arrogant to add to that was something that she never thought he'd do. This was beyond her logic. Rihan walked towards her direction while covering her sight and the rest of the class, as if to simply look at her and force her to look at him. To be honest, he didn't need to, she was really looking intently at him.

"Inspired by my looks?" Rihan teased the woman in front of him.

"In demon form, ?!" Wakana whispered but placed a strong stress in the word "sensei". "You definitely lost it."

Rihan shrugged. "This was the easiest. As a matter of fact, its pretty easy to go out and well, this is really comfortable. I don't have to dress in that suit."

"Ugh." Wakana placed her hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes while shaking her forehead.

"But…." Rihan continued. "To be honest, you took me back to the past when I saw you."

Wakana looked up only to see Rihan looking away. His eyes appeared a little distant as if thinking about a fond memory. She looked at him for a while, then to herself, then back to him, then to the rest of the class who were all staring at them curiously. She felt a blush start to crawl to her face. She suddenly pushed a box filled with props towards their teacher, almost knocking him out of breath at the sudden gesture.

Rihan now held a box filled with blue LED lights that are shaped in candle forms.

"Ah, ah, sensei, thank you for volunteering to place these…uh…lights!" Wakana stammered as if finding an excuse to run away. Some of her classmates whispered a sigh of relief, others simply nodded in amazement, others still curious but no longer looking like they were about to kill her.

"Ahh, Rihan-sensei, you're so nice!" Kimiko commented rushing to their side. "Helping Waka-chan to set up the place. I'll help you with that sensei!"

She grabbed their teacher's arm pulling him inside the haunted hall area alongside other fans of their teacher. Rihan allowed himself to be dragged inside although still looking at the direction of Wakana who is now talking to Amina. Wakana glanced at his direction and then blushed when their eyes met. She bent her head a little until Rihan vanished inside one of the classrooms with Kimiko and some other students.

Amina looked at the slowly disappearing figure in the sea of fanatics then back to Wakana who is as red as a tomato. She giggled a little bit.

"You know, your relationship is pretty interesting." Amina teased while taking some cobwebs in the box that Wakana was holding.

"What?" Wakana's eyes widened at the conclusion. "Amina-san, we…we don't have a relationship…"

"Yet." Amina continued. "Yet my dear, yet."

"Ehhh?!" Wakana raised her hand in defense. "Um, I…I have never thought of sensei in that way, and I don't think I will ever…"

Amina waved her index finger in front of Wakana, "I don't think you should speak as if it would never happen. You don't know what will happen in the future, Wakana-chan."

Amina smiled and then continued, "And besides, I don't think he thinks the same way you do. And, on a personal note, I kinda like it."

Wakana blushed and Amina simply laughed. She proceeded towards the entrance hall to check the tickets. Wakana held her face as if feeling the slightly growing blush. She looked to the side, hiding half her face in the kimono sleeve. She noticed someone coming towards her, this time, it was Sousuke.

"Wakana-san." Sousuke greeted with a warm smile. "You look more beautiful than scary."

"Haha, is that even a compliment, pres?" Wakana smiled, "You mean to say I'm not scary?"

Sousuke shook his head. He boldy took one of her hands and placed the back of her hand to his lips. Wakana's eyes widened in surprise. Sousuke looked at her and said,

"So scary that it makes my heart beat faster…"

Wakana blushed.

_What's with today?!_

Wakana couldn't help but think if there was some sort of enchantress today that was aiming to make her life really difficult.

* * *

In a hidden corner inside the haunted hall, Rihan placed the final LED light inside the room. He could really see the effort done by his students. The place looked like it was picked up from the cemetery and placed inside the school. It was perfect.

_Great job. This looks like a really haunted area._

_He smiked. _

_But to add to that, I think a little bit of reality would be helpful._

Rihan was laughing within. He actually invited some of the Nura clan demons to play with the humans today, of course, that's with the proper rules and regulations that they should not touch any of the visitors, cause any form of harm, and make sure that they understand that this is simply a "scare the human game".

Out of the corner of his eye, the small demons who Wakana met, like the one eyed demon, the little red oni, and natto were playing with some of the props.

"Neh, neh, Rihan-sama, these things look like the real thing." Natto commented showing him a plastic spider.

"Oi Natto, look at this! Scary right?!" The oni held out a rubber snake that absolutely looked like a real snake, only that it's not moving. "We should tie a string to it or something then drag it so that it can look like its moving!"

Rihan nodded. He knew that these three would probably do their best to scare the guests. He looked at the other side to see a dejected looking Kubinashi and a smiling Kejoro. Rihan walked towards them.

"Rihan-sama…" Kejoro greeted, "This is really exciting. But honestly, I think I'm a little too beautiful to be scaring someone."

"Well, Kejoro, this time your beauty will be too scary since its already surreal as it is. Feel free to scare them as much as you can." Rihan teased.

Kubinashi was silent. Kejoro looked at him and teased him.

"Lucky you! Your neck-less effect will be a total winner!" Kejoro teased making Kubinashi look at her with and annoyed expression.

"Well excuse me for being neck-less~!" Kubinashi retorted. "Rihan-sama! This…this…"

"This is going to be fun!" Rihan laughed.

"Rihan-sama…." Kubinashi sighed in disbelief.

* * *

The class finished the decorations for their haunted class. Looking at the entrance hall, the can see a long line of students excited to go in the haunted class. The entire ground floor was covered with their effects and dimmed by covering the windows and all light sources. All school items were moved to the storage rooms to avoid any breaking glass or equipment. To be honest, the class was quite proud of their accomplishments.

The rest of the class took their respective places. Some of them were in the entrance hall, others in the sound system area, some of them went to the back area, and a few more inside the hall to add to the fear factor. The president and the production head, Amina went to the front to greet the long line of guests.

"Shall we open the gates, president?" Amina inquired towards their Shinsengumi captain.

"Do as you wish." Sousuke was in character. He drew his fake sword and then pointed at the crowd. "Welcome to our haunted hall."

When he said it, all lights turned off and then there were screams of fear. The only source of light was the LED floating lights shaped like flames. The entrance door was closed allowing only around three pairs to go inside. The rest of the students are waiting excited for their chance to go in the haunted hall.

A loud effect greeted the first entrants.

"Let the haunting, begin!"

Tons of screaming, shouting, yelling, running could be heard in the entire hall. Some of the students were hiding inside, ready to scare their guests. It has been almost an hour since the hall opened and from the reports of Amina and Sousuke, the class project is the most popular. Up to now, there is still a long line of guests waiting for their turn.

One of the students, Eru ran towards the class president and the assistant project director to report the activities.

"Pres, Amina-san, it seems that we have extremely good feedback with our haunted hall." Eru proudly reported.

"Really?" Amina smiled. "What did they say"

"They said that it was really the best. And to add to that, the best parts were seeing a beautiful long haired woman facing the mirror, smelling that old rotten natto scent that made their stomach whirl, seeing the little red demon with a Cyclops, and lastly, meeting the neck-less demon. They said that all the props are ingenious." Eru proudly placed a hand on the shoulders of the two higher-ups. "Congratulations!"

The two continued to smile. When Eru left, they looked at each other with a proud gesture.

"Seems like everyone really got serious with their costumes. I wonder who were those." Sousuke remarked.

"Well whoever they are, pres, they're doing one hell of a job!" Amina proudly commented.

* * *

Wakana sat in the farthest end of the room. From this side, she could almost see everything. The faces of those who were really scared, the couples running back and forth, and of course, the presence of those "TRUE" demons in the area, like natto, Cyclops, the oni, Kejoro, and Kubinashi. He really did bring them here to add to the fear factor.

She was taking a step back when she bumped onto something. She looked up and saw Rihan looking down at her.

"Hey ya!" Rihan grinned. "Nice effort right?"

Rihan was referring to the demons that he bought with him. He looked like a pretty smug commander right now.

"I'm sure Kubinashi-san is pretty pissed right now, although I think Kejoro-san is pretty pumped up." She looked at the direction Kejoro was going, she was gliding towards some students who was running away from her.

"Well, that can be expected, but it was them who wanted to go with me, so here's the payment." Rihan justified. "By the way, nice outfit."

Wakana looked at herself and smiled. "Thanks."

Not used to wearing a long kimono, Wakana took a wrong turn by stepping on the backside of her garment. It caused her to slip backwards, fortunately falling towards Rihan who failed to put himself in a steady position since he was simply leaning on some empty boxes.

From afar, everyone heard the falling boxes, which made the atmosphere even scarier. Screams came as soon as the sound was over. Rihan, calmly placed a hand on top of Wakana's lips to keep her quiet. He kept his fear on and covered them both as if vanishing in plain sight. After a few moments, they both reappeared, but under a series of boxes.

"Hehe…the guests got scared." Rihan was looking up. "Neh…Wa…."

His eyes widened, not realizing the position they were in. She was on top of him. He was lying down on the ground in the middle of empty boxes. One hand was leaning on the ground as if to support them and the other hand was on Wakana's back as if holding her closely to him. Wakana on the other hand was facing down. Her hands were on his chest and kneeling in between his legs. Her long hair draped down to her shoulders. Her head was close to his chest, from that vantage point, he could feel her very quick heartbeat.

Wakana could not make anything out of the situation except for the feeling of nervousness. This feeling was uncanny. The silence in the room only made her heartbeat more audible than usual.

_Calm down._

_Calm down…_

_Calm down!_

Alas, it's not really working. She decided not to look up or lift her head up in any case to avoid being teased by this half-human, half-demon as to how red her face is right now. In fact, no one needs to tell her about it since she practically feels how hot her face is.

She was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts when Rihan held her shoulder and suddenly pushed her up to the point that they were face-to-face. Their eyes met, their nose almost touching, her hands resting on his chest and his on her arms. This time, aside from her heartbeat, she could hear his.

Like yesterday, there was this invisible black hole that was drawing them to be near each other. However, unlike yesterday, the pull was a lot stronger.

This scenario was very different. His eyes were different. The way he looked at her was entirely in a different level. Rihan didn't know what was going on. His hands moved on it's own. Hearing her heartbeat was something that made a part of him very excited, very enthused.

And what happened next was something that she did not expect and neither did he. He touched her hair, gently caressing it, coiling some of it in his fingers. Her eyes widened in an obvious surprise. He gently pushed her head down, inching closer to his face. Their nose now touching, his other hand let go of her arm and went towards the small of her back. Wakana knew that she should be moving out now, but her body doesn't seem to respond to her wills. She was taken in by the look in his eyes. It was too absorbing, too electrifying, too enticing for her.

And then, slowly, Rihan lifted his head, tilting sideways, he whispered…

"Right now, it's not me as your teacher…" Rihan's eyes brightened a bit, making it look like it's glowing, "It's just me, Nura Rihan…"

Wakana nodded as if in a trance. Rihan took this as a sign as he closed the gap, pulling her closer to him. Their lips met. Wakana's eyes widened a bit, and then closed it as if being drawn into that black hole, unable to escape. His hands travelled towards the small of her back to her tiny waist. Her hands moving from his chest to his face, until…

"Rihan-sama…" Kubinashi voiced out, a few steps away.

The two broke it off, Wakana pushing herself away in a swift movement. She stumbled to her back, falling on her behind. Rihan sat up still in a daze. He looked at Wakana who was also in a daze, confused as to what happened. She looked up to him, blushed profusely and ran out of the area.

She failed to notice Kubinashi who stood a few steps away. She bumped onto him, but he stood a firm ground and held onto her.

"Oh, Wakana-sama." He smiled.

"Ah, ah…hello Kubinashi-san…" Wakana smiled nervously, trying to cover her face by raising her hand with the sleeves of her kimono.

"You look wonderful, Wakana-sama." Kubinashi complimented.

"Ah, thank you Kubinashi-san, also thanks a lot for helping!" Wakana made a polite bow. "I'll be going ahead…"

She waved at Kubinashi and vanished in thin air. The demon raised a fine brow, curious as to what happened. He looked at the direction where she came from but, he saw nothing there. He thought to himself,

_Weird…_

_She's acting like she saw a ghost or something._

_Maybe…_

He looked back again, but there was nothing but empty boxes. Kubinashi went back to his post. He was looking for the second but he was nowhere to be found. He thought that he was probably outside.

_I wonder where Rihan-sama went?_

_He was just around this area a while ago…_

Kubinashi left the area and proceeded to look in another place. He went to the direction where Kejoro stood in a perfectly mummified position to scare the guests. She was definitely making a career out of this.

Rihan undid his fear and appeared in the middle of the empty boxes. He was sitting with crossed legs trying to sense any other presence in the area. This time, thanks to his demon classification, he can perfectly hide his presence. He didn't even sense Kubinashi until he spoke, fortunately and unfortunately. He held onto that thought.

_Unfortunately?_

_Why would I think that…_

_I should have…_

_Been grateful that he spoke…or else as a teacher…_

_This behavior is unacceptable…_

But, deep down inside, it was not really that. In fact, most of himself thought that it was fairly unacceptable that Kubinashi intervened with the moment. But…

But more than that, he was perturbed. What got to him? Why did he do that? It was as if at that moment, everything was simply uncontrollable. It was as if he was in a trance. Was he in some sort of spell?

He unconsciously raised his hand, reminiscing how it felt to hold her close, how it felt to have her on his chest, and most of all, the feeling of her lips to his.

This time, instead of a barrage of questions, he simply smiled.

_That was pretty…_

_Good…_

Rihan smiled to himself, reminiscing the moment alone in the middle of those empty boxes.

* * *

To be continued to Chapter 3C.

Please read and review.

Thank you very much!


	9. Chapter 3C: Daytime and Nighttime Trips3

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 3C: Daytime and Nighttime Trips**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review, keeps me motivated to write. Thank you!

**Author's note: **The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see.

By the way, Chapter 3 will be broken into three parts unlike Chapter 1 and 2. I guess it can get noticeably hard to read when it gets too long. Again as a slight warning, some personalities can get a little OOC but I'm trying to really make it all fit the main plot. Hope you can bear with it for a while

* * *

Rihan walked towards the exit, the direction Wakana took off a while ago. He purposefully left a little later as to not arouse any suspicion from the rest of the student body, or at least with his class. With his signature look, one eye closed and his trademark smirk, he went to the students who were manning the exit area. He had one aim of course, to find the woman who ran away from him. He definitely had some explaining to do.

"Yo. How's everything here?" Rihan coolly asked. He should ask first about the status of the job then proceed to his personal agenda. He can't have people thinking about things, not that he'd mind.

"Rihan-sensei!" One of the students, going by the name Yukina greeted him. "We're doing fine, the haunted hall is a big hit to the student."

"Really?" He smiled.

"Yeah, Rihan-sensei. They said they even saw small demons walking around the place and a headless warrior." The other student, Akira added. "The pres and the committee must have pulled all the stops."

_Good job Nura clan. _Rihan thought to himself and made a mental note to give them something in return when they get back home today.

"Great. Congratulations!" Rihan commended, the students gave him a polite bow in return. "Oh yeah, I was going to ask about Koizumi. Have you seen her?"

"Wakana-chan?" Yukina asked. "Yeah, she was in a hurry a while ago. I think she proceeded that way sensei."

"Oh, great. I was gonna ask about the LED candles. Some of them had problems inside." Rihan smiled sheepishly, purposefully acting the reason out.

"Oh, okay sensei. I'll go look for her." Akira was about to leave when Rihan placed a hand over his shoulder.

"It's okay. You guys need to stay here, I'll look for her. I'm on my way to the faculty room anyway." Rihan noted, adding another excuse just in case.

The two students nodded and bade him a nice farewell. They returned to their duties and Rihan proceeded to the direction that he was pointed to. Luckily, after a few minutes of walking around the school, he saw Wakana. Unfortunately, she was with a teacher. It was the theater club coordinator. He backed off a little bit to give them some time.

_Perhaps she's being asked to help in the play tonight. I'll go back after 30 minutes. _Rihan thought. He proceeded to get some things first in the faculty room.

After 30 minutes, he went back to the stage area. He looked around and noticed that Wakana was no longer there. He looked around again and saw the theater teacher. He walked towards him and to inquire about his target.

"Kinomoto-sensei." He greeted.

"Ahh, Nura-sensei." Kinomoto returned the greeting. "Congratulations, it seems that your haunted hall is a big success."

"Thanks." Rihan accepted the commendation gracefully. "I'm sure your play would be great too."

"Oh, I'm actually pretty nervous about the play. Hopefully we can pull it off." He replied.

"I'm sure you can. By the way, have you seen Koizumi?" Rihan asked. "I was looking for her regarding something, and a student pointed me to this direction."

"Yes, she went to help Honou-sensei with the fireworks display tonight. I think she might be in the storage area." Kinomoto replied.

Rihan nodded. He gave Kinomoto a tap on the back as a good luck sign and proceeded towards the storage room. He hastened his pace and managed to meet Honou-sensei in the storage area.

"Oh, Nura-sensei." The purple eyed, female teacher greeted him. "What brings you here in the storage area?"

"Well, I was looking for Koizumi. The class coordinators have been looking for her but since they can't leave the area, I had to look for her personally." Rihan lied.

"Oh, she was here a while ago. I asked her to bring some of the fireworks to the bonfire area for tonight. I'm sure she will be back in a while." Honou replied. "But since you're here, can you help me with these?"

Honou placed a big box of fireworks in the arms of Rihan. He caught the box and looked at her expectantly, as if waiting for instructions. Honou said.

"Please deliver them to the bonfire area, Nura-sensei. They're setting up the event as we speak." Honou instructed. "Thanks a lot!"

Even without agreeing, she already thanked him. He might as well deliver it. He's bound to see Wakana in the bonfire area helping their committee set-up the fireworks. He walked towards the direction of the open field. A group of students met up with him and directed him to the place where he can put down the big box.

"Wow! That's a pretty big box, Rihan-sensei." Toshiro commended, one of the student council members in-charge of the fireworks. "I never thought you were that strong."

"Ahh, It was not that heavy." Rihan smiled, well it was heavy, but he doesn't need to say that. "By the way, Toshiro, have you seen Koizumi?"

Rihan was looking around and she was nowhere to be found. Toshiro nodded.

"Yes sensei. You missed her. She left around 10 minutes ago saying that she needed to go back to the storage.

Rihan grumbled to himself. That girl was pretty good in hiding from him, or rather avoiding him. The circumstances were in her favor today. He almost wanted to think that she had some kind of ability wherein she can just vanish and never to appear again, kind of like him. But then again, she's human, not demon.

_Hmph, definitely, I'll find her. _Rihan proceeded to go back to the storage room, thinking that she might go back there and they might meet at that area.

* * *

Wakana sat in the roof top area of the school. She didn't even realize that she reached that area since all that was in her mind was to run as fast as she can. The heat in her face is still there, the raging heartbeat is still there, she could not even breathe. She placed her hand on her chest as she panted from the over exertion. Leaning on the wall, she slowly slid down pulled her knees towards her body and embraced it.

She properly hid herself at the backside of the door leading to the rooftop. The afternoon sun was very visible in the rooftop. Since their class's haunted house opened a little after lunch, the timing was pretty perfect. She has been hiding from their so-called teacher.

"_Idiot…" _she thought. _"But I don't know who the bigger idiot is…"_

She felt a growing blush creeping on her face. She shook her head wildly, remembering how close his face was, how warm his lips were, how absorbing his gaze was. Everything about him was something unworldly. The moment was too…

Perfect.

But, that doesn't remove the fact that they were at school. He was the teacher and she was the student. When it sank to her, that unknowing feeling of embarrassment, that difficult feeling of knowing that it would not last, and that spur of the moment rationalization was something that struck her too strong that she didn't have a choice to but run away.

True enough, she couldn't even begin to think how she managed to avoid him. Perhaps, when she ran out of that room, she immediately went towards the other class's rooms to check their activities. She also was called by one of the other teachers and was asked to help prepare the materials for the final play that will be held tonight. Another teacher asked her to help her get the fireworks in the gym and set-up the bonfire.

At least that part worked for her. She immediately followed all the instructions in an attempt to run away, which was a normal course of action by someone who just got her first kiss from the person that she least expected to get it from. She shook her head in an attempt to clear the memories, but somehow someway, it seems that her body was not obeying. She could feel her face getting flushed every time her brain reminds her of the moment.

"Ugh…" Wakana groaned. "Forget, forget, forget, forget!"

She closed her eyes while shaking her head violently as if trying to shake her memories away.

"What do you want to forget?"

Wakana was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when a male voice spoke to her. Worried that it might have come from the person that she has been avoiding for she immediately raised her eyes only to be met by a man, who is pretty tall, not as tall as Rihan, but pretty tall. His short red hair shone bright in the orange sky. He had deep green eyes looking straight at her. He's wearing a black suit, a white polo shirt inside, partnered with a red tie. He sat knelt on one leg and smiled warmly towards her.

"What do you want to forget, hime?"

His eyes glistened as he said those words. Wakana's eyes widened, her long hair (due to the extensions) swayed in the afternoon breeze. Her embrace loosened a little bit, her kimono smoothly flowing. He tilted his head as if in a questioning gaze towards her.

"Haha, it seems like you don't remember who I am." He smiled, Wakana looked at him questioningly.

"Um…am I supposed to?" Wakana asked, curious.

The man stood up and then looked at her with a wide smile. He extended his hand towards Wakana who was still sitting down looking up at him with a curious gaze.

"Tsuchiya…" He started, "Tsuchiya Sakuya."

Wakana's eyes widened as he said his name, her hands falling to the ground looking up at him. That name was a name she never heard from a very long time. This man, he's…

"Yes." His warm gaze changing rapidly to a killer's stare, his smile hanging into an evil smirk almost snickering as if purposefully hiding his lauching for the past time.

His movements were pretty fast, his hands suddenly moved towards her neck, startling her. She fell to her back, lying down on the ground, his hands laced on her neck and his eyes glaring intently towards her. She was frozen in fear.

This guy…

Though she could not remember specifically who he is, fear struck her body as if it remembers what the mind cannot. Her body was frozen, she could not even scream for help, his hand suddenly moved to her mouth to cover it.

"We don't want you screaming anytime soon." He smirked, laughing to himself. "Sleep tight…princess…"

Wakana felt her sight blurring. She could still see the sunset and this man's evil grin. But her mind and body is slowly getting numb. She felt his hand loosen from her neck as she started to lose consciousness. She felt really scared and for the first time in her life, she could only think of one name. As she closed her eyes, her one thought was only towards one person.

_Rihan…help…Rihan-sama…_

* * *

Meanwhile, Rihan was still looking for Wakana. He was pointed in various organizations, directions, whatsoever. He felt that he already memorized the entire fair grounds because of what everyone did. He was about to go back to the haunted hall area to check if she already came back when he was met by, none other than, the class president…

"R-rihan-sen-sei…" He said panting heavily, he was bent down hands on his knees.

"Sousuke?" Rihan looked at him questioningly with a quick observation.

Sousuke's body was trembling, he was panting heavily as if in a panic and he ran a good distance. Rihan looked down a little bit to check him quickly if he was injured or something. He noticed that he had a few scratches.

"What happened to you?" Rihan pointed out the scratches and bruises, despite the bad blood, he was concerned.

"It's nothing. Sensei, Wakana is in trouble…" He looked up, eyes looking very scared. Rihan's eyes widened.

"Where is she?"

"In the rooftop…" Rihan looked up, tempted to just jump up and vanish in thin air, but held himself, his student is there looking at him.

"Thanks. I'll take care of it." Rihan answered him. Sousuke merely nodded.

Rihan ran inside the building and then vanished. He was using a different kind of footstep almost similar to Shukuchi or Shunpo. In a few seconds, he was already at the rooftop door. He kicked the door open and saw a scene that made his blood boil.

Wakana was unconscious in the hands of a redhead guy standing almost at the edge of the building. His eyes were looking intently at his direction. His sadistic grin plastered in his face. Rihan gritted his teeth.

"Well, well if it isn't none other than the head of the Nura clan…" Sakuya teased. "I am honored."

"Who the hell are you?" Rihan's voice was dripping in venom, his gaze shifting from the man to the woman in his arms, subsequently checking if she was wounded or not.

"Honestly, it's really none of your business." Sakuya shook his head. "But, to commend you for your effort, let's just say, I'm Wakana-chan's fiancée…"

Rihan's eyes glowered. _What the hell?! Who is this guy?_

"Ooh, scary, scary…possessive demon, are you?" Sakuya smirked. Rihan's eyes slightly widened.

_Is this man, able to… _Rihan thought to himself.

"Pimpom! That's right. I can read your thoughts." Sakuya waved his finger. "Like you, I am a half-demon, and the demon part came from my mother-side. This ability is a thank you gift from my deceased father."

Rihan drew Nenikirimaru. He was raging mad. His insides were curling as if in fury. His mind was getting blank, he didn't know what came to him. He was definitely not afraid, but something about him declaring himself as her fiancée made him lose his cool. Sakuya faced him mockingly.

"You know the rules Nura. Once you lose your cool, you lose entirely." Sakuya took out one hand from her grip of Wakana, who he was carrying princess-style.

"Hand her over." Rihan warned.

"Oh, and why would I do that?" Sakuya asked, feigning a confused look. "Like I said, this is my woman."

Rihan vanished using his fear. Sakuya smirked. As he attempted to slice the opponent into half, he was met with another sword, a pure black sword laced with fire. It suddenly breathed fire towards Rihan's direction and he jumped back in defense.

"Meikyo Shisui." Sakuya remarked. "It works well, if only I can't read your mind."

Rihan was slightly stunned, amused, and at the same time annoyed. But like an experienced warrior, he cannot put his guard down. He readied himself for another attack only to be surprised to see his opponent hide his weapon and then carried Wakana with two hand again.

"This is boring, Nura." Sakuya shook his head. "I'll give you a deal. This woman is mine for all intents and purposes. But…I'll give you a chance to fight for her."

Rihan didn't wait for him to finish, he rushed in one fell swoop but alas, he simply jumped to the other side of the building completely avoiding him. This time, he was in higher ground and looking down at him with an annoyed gaze.

"Oi, you bastard, let me finish while I'm talking." Sakuya hissed. "The Nura Clan's arrogance is really impossible. That's why…."

He vanished from the top and appeared right next to Rihan, his hand touching the black haired man's shoulder. Rihan's eyes widened, he barely saw anything.

"…Your clan has the tendency to lose your most cherished things…" He whispered, vanishing after saying it.

He only reappeared in the upper area with his back towards Rihan and his gaze on the opposite. He continued.

"It's not hard to find us, Nura." Sakuya muttered. "But, all I can tell you now is that…"

He looked back, now completely transformed. His hair longer than it should be, his eyes gleaming in red, his fangs a little exposed. His skin as white as it could be making his red firey hair appear brighter than usual. He carried Wakana close to his body using only one hand he drew her close making sure that she would not fall off. On one hand he held his weapon, the demon sword, Maken. It was clad in full black, seething with killing intent. It was protected by a veil of fire…

"I am Tsuchiya Sakuya, a half-demon, half human, from the Kagatsuchi lineage." He sneered. Rihan's eyes widened.

_Kagatsuchi? The Fire God? _He was against a god?!

How in the hell did this happen to them?

Sakuya smirked. Just after a few minutes, he vanished into the thin air leaving Rihan standing there a little frustrated. He didn't know what came to him, was it fear? No, honestly he wasn't really intimidated in facing a god. The logic was simple, if he was up against a god, he might as well be better than that god.

But…

What made him more afraid was that…

Wakana was there.

He's afraid of losing her.

He's confused with his feelings.

He didn't know what to do.

In this point of his life, he formed a fist, hard enough that his hands were bleeding.

He could only form one word to describe himself…

"Idiot…" He sneered to himself, angry and disbelieving.

* * *

To be continued.

Please read and review.


	10. Chapter 4A: Wakana's Book of Memories

**SEEING YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME**

**Chapter 4A: Wakana's Book of Memories**

**Disclaimer:** Nurarihyon no Mago characters are not mine. Also, the last name of Wakana is just a fictional name that was added for the purpose of the story. There are also some original characters created for the purpose of the story.

Please read and review, keeps me motivated to write. Thank you!

**Author's note: **The story is slightly different than usual. However, I will not move away so much. The overall plan is to end up in the same story. About the onmyoji characters, wait and see.

**Note for the chapter:** Sorry to the readers that it took a while, been a little busy, but here goes the next chapter. Again, it will be divided into three, hope you'll be patient with me.

* * *

7-year old Wakana sat at in the playground hiding behind the view of the students leaving school. As someone who has always been able to see demons or paranormal beings since she was a little girl, it came a little too late for her to realize that it was not really helpful to share it to others. It's not as if she's different to the point that she's not human, its just that she's able to see them. It perhaps came from her father, the one who was pretty obsessed with paranormal creatures.

"_Neh, I saw an old lady outside. She's angry." 4-year old Wakana looked at the direction of the door in the kindergarten._

"_Eww…Waka-chan, don't say scary things. There's no one there." A fellow student responded, moving an inch away from her._

"_But she's really there, see! She's by the door!" Wakana pointed, she could really see the spirit of an old woman staring at them_

"_Sensei! Wakana-chan is saying things again!_

These things were a regular occurrence to her. As a child, she didn't really know the difference between the things that are seen by everyone and the ones that she can only see by herself. But, for years and years, she understood. Before she had friends, until one by one, they started to leave. One by one, they started to talk about her. One by one, she lost the people she had lunch with before. But this was not something that she couldn't talk about at home. Scenario at home is totally different.

Wakana's father was a writer. But he was not any ordinary writer. At a very young age, he became very passionate with the thriller, suspense, and paranormal genre. Being a popular writer, of course with a pen name known only to his editors, he wrote twelve books wherein he created an entirely new plot where humans and demons existed in parallel universes, the discovery of aliens and how they can mingle with humans, and so on and so forth. Having such books, he did a lot of research. Their home has been full of books about these. Unlike, regular kids who grew up reading books about Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, or Cinderella, Wakana grew up reading books about the snow demons, UFOs, or haunted stories.

In the beginning, it was something that was interesting, until she felt how utterly ostracized she was in school, and experiencing being called 'weird' and people avoiding her because they can receive WAKA-GERMS. A term that they created just for her.

Wakana's mother is a regular woman, except that knowing she married her father, it means they have something in common. Yes, you guessed it, she also appreciated the paranormal. Although it did not go to the point of obsession and being able to write a trilogy about demonology, but it's because she grew up in a very strict Shinto background. She was exposed to being traditional, with aunts as priestesses, and uncles as exorcists. Definitely, when she and her husband met, it was a match made in heaven.

So, in reality, Wakana never had the heart to tell them that she was going through a lot in school. She never really told them that her classmates have been calling her weird since the start of the school year and to add to that, she didn't have any real friends in class. She eats lunch alone, she goes home alone, she can't even clean with anyone in class duty because they're all freaking out. She was basically the 'other' girl they refuse to get to know. But whenever she gets home and her parents ask her about her school day, she'll smile and say…

"It's great mom. Have a lot of friends, we play in the playground a lot." Wakana smiled reporting to her mother.

She didn't have the heart to tell them that their unusual hobby is causing her the social life she would have preferred to have. But, for her, at the end of the day, family is still the most important thing in life. So despite the bullying, the pain, the hardship, she knew and understood that she had to persevere.

Then again, it's not as if she's really alone in life, in the sense that no one is really getting to know her. There was this one guy; his name is Sakuya. She knew that he was somewhat different from the rest, but he never imagined that they could be friends. She sat at the corner of the seesaw and remembered the day they met. It was a fairly simple meeting, she was alone, he was alone, he introduced himself, and then bam. They became friends.

Wakana was so deep in thought that she did not realize the older guy standing behind her.

"Bah!" Sakuya slammed his hands on Wakana's shoulder, making her hair stand on the edges and her eyes almost popping out of its sockets.

"Kya!" Wakana screamed. She stood up and looked at Sakuya who was laughing very hard. "Sakuya-san!"

Sakuya, a boy who was about 5 years older than her, but studying in the same school surprised her in this late afternoon. He jumped up the swing, standing on it, and proceeded to move it forward and then backward.

"Sorry sorry, couldn't resist the temptation of surprising the lost in thought. What's up?" Sakuya gazed at her as she continued to glare at him. "If I were a piece of paper and your eyes was some sort of fire, I'd be dissolved into ashes."

"Sigh…" Wakana breathed a sigh of discomfort. "Well, you see..."

Wakana paused. Sakuya noticed the pause, he jumped off the swing with a graceful thump beside the little girl and knelt down to listen to her more intently. She looked at him gracefully do his act and settle beside her. He quirked his brow and stared at her.

"What happened?" Sakuya asked, looking at her checking if she had bruises.

He was pretty aware of the bullying scenario in school, so he got pretty worried thinking that the other kids in class are bullying her again. But after careful inspection, she was not injured. There were no bruises, no cuts, or anything of the sort, at least none in the visible part of her body.

"Neh…Sakuya-san…" Wakana started, sitting back on the seesaw looking at the sunset. "I wonder why I had parents who were so obsessed with the paranormal. Sometimes, I really wish that I could just be like anybody else."

"Anybody else?" Sakuya asked.

"Yes, like those people who don't see what I see…" Wakana remarked. "I've been called names because of this and no one in the family sees them except me."

"Hahaha! Let's just say, the gods grated the wish of your parents when you were still in the womb of your mom." Sakuya placed his index finger in his forehead. Checking if she bought the joke, it seems that she didn't. She just stared at him as if he grew another head or something.

"You don't understand." Wakana muttered almost incoherently. Sakuya had to strain his ears to hear her say those words. "I wanted friends. I wanted to play with the other kids in class. But…"

Sakuya looked at the other group of kids who were happily playing at the other side of the room. Wakana on the other hand, was sitting alone in this part of the school. He looked at her with a soft smile.

"Well, you have me." Sakuya smirked, looking arrogant. "I won't leave you."

"Sa…" Wakana was about to say something but she was interrupted by a set of older kids in who came towards them.

"Hey Tsuchiya, how come you like hanging out with freak chicks like her." One of them said in a teasing manner. "Come on, man! You'll get infected with freak-o germs!"

"Hahaha! He's right man, everyone in class has been wondering why you would even like to be around a crazy weirdo of a kid." Another one loomed over Wakana suddenly grabbing her hair.

Wakana slapped his hand away with a glare.

"Kya! Kya! Help! Help! I've been infected by freak-o germs!" The guy who got his hand slapped went on jumping around like a sissy. Then turned to glare at Wakana. "You brat!"

He pushed Wakana to the ground causing her to stumble and fall on the sand. The five guys kept on laughing and laughing. The third guy sat on his heels a few inches from Wakana, who was still lying on the ground.

"Go call for help from your demon friends!" The guy laughed so hard that he did not notice that Sakuya was standing beside him. "Or better yet, your freak parents!"

Sakuya was seething in anger. He thought that they would just talk crap and then leave, but when he saw the violence, there was something in him that snapped. Right now, there was nothing in his mind but…

"I'll kill you." Sakuya glowered. His voice was dripping with blood lust, his eyes were dark, his hands were formed into fists, and he was trembling.

Sakuya grabbed one of the guys and held onto his throat. He lifted the guy up in the air clutching his throat as hard as he could. The guy tried to struggle but to no avail. His grip was so strong that he could not even bulge. Sakuya threw him as if he was a piece of paper. Little by little, there were some changes that were happening to his body. His previously calm gaze changed into a killer's eyes. His skin that was light but normal, now became pale as snow.

His eyes became red as blood, shining brightly in the afternoon sunset. Her hair is starting to grow longer, his fangs starting to expose itself and in one fatal swoop, he disabled his opponents. His targets were all lying on the ground, helpless, wounded. One guy with a broken arm, another with a dislocated leg, the other guy who he threw helplessly was unconscious, the rest of the two guys were in his hands, one in the right and the other in the left.

"Tsu…tsu…chi…ya…." The guy stammered…

"Let…go…ple….assee…" The other pleaded.

"How dare you. How dare you. How dare you." He repeated as if he didn't even hear what they said. He was in a black out, focused only on his anger. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill."

He just kept on repeating and repeating that threat. His body now firm, his physique fully transformed. It was no longer Tsuchiya. It was something, someone else. And for the first time, he felt he completely snapped.

* * *

Wakana's eyes were closed in fear. Her body was trembling, afraid that she might be hurt once again. Suddenly, a warm touch landed on her head. She flinched but slowly opened her eyes slowly. Her sight was filled with a smiling Sakuya. His soft warm smile was so welcoming that she felt comfort. He was sitting on his heels just in front of her. Tears welled in her eyes. She could not help herself but launch towards Sakuya in a heartfelt embrace.

Sakuya lost his balance and fell on his behind on the sand. His right hand rested on the ground to stabilize himself. He was a little surprised when Wakana suddenly embraced him. His other hand went to her head and he muttered assurances. Wakana nodded and pushed herself out from the embrace.

"Neh, Sakuya-san, where are they?" Wakana looked around seeing nothing in the area.

Sakuya was silent. Wakana looked around the place leaving him sitting in that area, quiet.

"I don't see them. Did they run away?" Wakana asked, looking back at Sakuya.

With his back turned he simply nodded. Wakana sighed and the almost tripped on some sort of black stone near her. She looked at the area and then shook her head.

"The playground has gotten dirty…" Wakana sat on her heels looking around.

In the playground there were black sand. There was no proper order but there it was. Black sand was all over the place. There were some bits that were bigger than the other, there are some that looked like it's so small and it just covered the brown sand. She was about to reach to touch it when Sakuya spoke, this time around, he was also sitting on his heels beside her.

"Yes, Wakana-chan. This place really has gotten dirty." Sakuya responded.

Wakana failed to look at him as he spoke which actually made her unable to see the smirk on his face and the glint in his eyes. He was laughing in his mind. He was squirming in excitement. He didn't know how it happened to him, but for him, black sand…or should he say, black ash has never really been that beautiful in his eyes.

* * *

To be continued.

Please read and review.

Thank you very much!


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